
Gass ..D5> Ai X. 

Book ;T) 9 






tit fito; 



MADRAS, THE NEILGHERRIES, AND CALCUTTA, 



naffe 



U Li 




WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. 



AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

No. 316 CHESTNUT STREET. 
NEW YORK: No. 147 NASSAU ST. 

BOSTON: No. 9 CORNHILL, CINCINNATI: 41 WEST FOURTH ST. 

LOUISVILLE: No. 103 FOURTH ST. 






Enteral according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by the 

AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of 

Pennsylvania. 



4®°* No books are published by the American Sunday-School Union 
without the sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of four- 
teen members, froj& the following denominations of Christians, viz. Bap- 
tist, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and 
Reformed Dutch. Not more than three of the members can be of the same 
denomination, and no book can be published to which any member of the 
Committee shall object. 



-> 






PREFACE. 



The author ventures with much dif- 
fidence to make an humble contribution 
to the stock of public information on 
India and the Hindus. 

It has not been his aim to tell all that 
could be told of India ; this would call 
for folios. Nor has he attempted to give 
a popular compend of the whole vast 
subject; this would demand a volume 
whose size and style would defeat his 
object; and, moreover, it has already 
been ably done by authors in this coun- 
try and in England. He has rather 
aimed, by a series of sketches, simply and 
familiarly drawn, to give some definite 
impressions on a number of points con- 
nected with that interesting land and its 
teeming millions; and more especially 



PREFACE. 



as seen in those parts of India which 
have come under his own observation. 
He has sought to show how the mission- 
ary reaches the shores of Southern In- 
dia; what sights and sounds greet him on 
landing; how Hindus live, act, and wor- 
ship; in what ways they are approached 
by the missionary; and what are the ef- 
fects of his labours among them. 

Though indebted for many facts to 
those who have preceded him, the writer 
has thought that reality and definiteness 
of conception would be most promoted 
by giving mainly the results of personal 
experience and the incidents of personal 
travel. In themselves of slight import- 
ance, they yet serve to illustrate the 
subject, and so to answer the end he has 
in view. 

Though a residence of scarce four years 
hardly suffices for such an acquaintance 
with a foreign nation — and that, too, one 
so unlike our own — as would justify the 
present authorship, yet he trusts that a 



diligent study of the people during that 
time, with the aid of information drawn 
from books of known authority, will be 
found to have prevented the occurrence 
of many serious errors. The reader should 
be warned against the very common mis- 
take of taking, as applicable to all India, 
statements true only of certain districts 
or provinces. India is an aggregate of 
nations having many things in common, 
but being in many things diverse. This 
should be borne in mind, and a distinc- 
tion be made between local and general 
facts. 

• A scientific accuracy in the spelling of 
Eastern names and terms has not been 
sought. The mode most commonly used 
in Southern India has been usually 
adopted. 

If this humble attempt to give life and 
reality to now vague and cold concep- 
tions of the "heathen of far-off India" 
serves to create in any Christian heart a 
more enlightened and lively zeal for the 



extension of the kingdom of Christ in 
that rich and noble land, (though now 
impoverished and degraded by sin;) if 
it helps to swell the tide of Christian 
sympathy for the Hindu, and of effort 
for his salvation ; if it awakens in the bo- 
som of any of our youth an interest in the 
welfare of the benighted, and thankful- 
ness for their own happier lot; and, more 
especially, if it should lead any youth to 
say, " Here am I, send me !" — then will 
the writer feel that not entirely in vain 
has he been removed from a loved field 
of labour, and deprived of the ability to 
preach with his own voice the unsearch- 
able riches of Christ. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

PAGE 

The Departure = 13 

The Ocean 15 

Across the Line 21 

High Latitudes 28 

Joyful Days 38 

Death at Sea.... , 45 

Land Ho! 50 

Madras Roads 53 

PART II. 

Chintadrepettah 59 

A Morning Walk 69 

Mount Road 74 

7 



O CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chintadrepettah Schools 79 

Triplicane 90 

The Sabbath at Chintadrepettah 97 

Car-Drawing 102 

Housekeeping in Madras 109 

The Language 128 

The Verandah School 134 

Sanj uvarayan-pettah 143 

Roman Catholicism in Madras 154 

Street Preaching 165 

Black-town 183 



PART III. 

Palankeen Travelling 204 

Arnee 222 

Villages of the Carnatic 229 

Varey-punthal 241 

Perumanaloor 248 

The Jainas 255 

Vantha-yasi 262 

Trivatoor 277 

Conjeveram 281 



CONTENTS. 



PART IV. 

PAGE 

Caste 289 

The Brahmins 301 

The Palm-Trees and their Cultivators 308 

The Hindu Pastor 331 

Religion of the Hindus 349 

PART Y. 

Travel in the Carnatic 383 

Bangalore 397 

To Seringapatam 416 

Palhully to Ootacamund 424 

The Neilgherries 440 

Todars of the Nilagiri 445 

TheBadagas 457 

Coimbatoor 473 

PART VI. 

Calcutta 493 

Missions in Calcutta 521 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Preaching in the villages. {Frontispiece.) 

Madras catamaran 51 

Madras from the roadstead - 53 

Temple to Ganesha 69 

Peon or policeman 71 

Castor-oil mill 73 

Bazaar shop 92 

Mission church, school-house, and bungalow 99 

Plantain in fruit 112 

Writing on palm-leaf, book and letter 147 

Cavady-man with water-pots 190 

Hindu women at a well 192 

Silversmith at work 197 

Camel and rider 203 

Palankeen in motion 204 

Hindu family journeying 219 

Woman with water-chatty 229 

Hindu weaving 235 

Fanning and beating rice 264 

11 



12 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Gobram or pagoda 283 

Vaishnava Brahmin 301 

Brahmin at his meal 305 

Young palmyra 316 

Toddy-gatherers 318 

Disease leaving the Madura king 370 

The king's ministers 374 

Musical instruments 382 

Buffalo cart 393 

Sepoys 401 

Water-booth and soldiers 428 

Elephant with howdah 431 

Todar family 446 

Bazaar of a Hindu town 4S6 

Hindu house 492 

Government-house, Calcutta 499 

Hindus eating 501 



LIFE IN INDIA. 



geprtort 

The hour for embarkation came. Having 
received our instructions from the officers of the 
society which sent us forth, and a farewell from 
the churches, with hearts filled with mingled 
emotions of sorrow and joy, we repaired to the 
vessel that was to bear us to our home among 
the heathen of far-distant India. 

Here all was activity and confusion : officers 
and crew were busy with preparations for cast- 
ing off from the wharf, the owners of the ship 
were exchanging last words with the captain, 
fresh provisions were arriving for the voyage, 
while a thronging crowd of friends clustered 
around those with whom they were so soon to 
part, it might be, forever. 

At length all 'was ready, and missionaries 
and friends gathered around an aged minister 
who had laboured thirty-three years in the land 
to which we were bound, listened to a last ad- 

2 13 



14 DEPARTURE. 



dress, joined in a last prayer, and then turned 
to take a last embrace. Mothers did not ven- 
ture there. In the privacy of home they had 
wept their parting tears and given the parting 
kiss ; but dear friends, fathers and brothers 
pressed for the last time to their hearts the 
objects of their love, then left us, and took 
their station upon the wharf to witness our 
departure. Hawsers were cleared away, sails 
set, the single plank that united us to our na- 
tive land thrown off, and with a favouring wind, 
we were under weigh. Cheers from the wharf 
were answered from the ship, the crowd of 
gazers dispersed, and only some few warm- 
hearted ones remained in the cold October wind 
to watch the receding and lessening form of 
the ship, until, like a white-winged bird, it was 
lost in the distant horizon. 

But we had still a connecting link with Ame- 
rica. It was the pilot, who guided our ship 
down the harbour of Boston through rocks and 
islets to the open bay. Hurrying below, amid 
the confusion of boxes, trunks, baskets, bags, 
and luggage in all its forms, we found places 
on which to lay our paper, that we might once 
more write our farewells to dear friends whom 
we left, — left not because we loved them not, 



THE OCEAN. 15 



but because we heard the voice of God crying 
in our ears, "Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature !" 

And now the pilot has gone. He has borne 
with him our last words ; friends will hear no 
more from us until oceans have been crossed 
by us, and re-crossed by some vessel bearing the 
news. The pilot in his little dancing craft 
glides lightly up the bay, and leaves us to 
plough our slow course through fourteen thou- 
sand miles of rolling ocean — the last bond to 
America is severed, and now — for India ho ! 

" The sails were filled, and fair the light winds blew, 
• As glad to bear us from our native home ; 
And fast the brown rocks faded from our view, 
And soon were lost in circumambient foam." 



" The sea ! the sea ! the open sea ! 
The blue, the fresh, the ever free, 
Without a mark, without a bound, 
It runneth the earth's wide region round ; 
It plays with the clouds ; it mocks the skies ; 
Or like a cradled creature lies." 

Often had I thus sung when little dreaming 
of ever making my home for months upon the 



16 THE OCEAN. 



rolling deep. Indeed, I had supposed that 
poetry, rather than reality, gave birth to these 
bright visions of a "life on the ocean wave;" 
but a few days of sea life, to me all novelty, 
fulfilled what the poet promised. It was a 
glorious thing to see the huge billows come 
rolling from the distant horizon, wave following 
wave in ceaseless succession, each threatening 
to engulf us, and yet to feel the deep-laden ship 
beneath our feet mount to the summit of each 
as it passed onward in its unchecked course. 

The unbounded view of sea and sky, except 
as each was limited by the other ; the loneliness 
of our ship as it ploughed its way through the 
trackless expanse of waters ; the beauty of the 
waves, sparkling and glittering in the sunlight, 
changing from the deep blue of the gulfs from 
which they rose to green and fleecy white, like 
hillocks of emerald crested with pearls starting 
from sapphire beds ; sun-risings and sun-settings ; 
the moon obscured by clouds or shining full 
and mellow on the watery world around, with 
a thousand changing lights and shades, — are all 
so full of beauty, that he must be dull indeed 
who can look on these forms of loveliness and 
power, and find no gushings of joy and wonder 
within his soul. How fair must be the mind 



THE OCEAN. 17 



of Him who devised and framed this ever-vary- 
ing scene ! How loving, to spread them before 
the eyes of man ! How mighty, to hold the 
seas in the hollow of his hand ! 

Within a week of leaving America, favouring 
breezes had borne us more than a thousand 
miles up on our way. Steering to the south and 
east, we daily entered a warmer climate, and 
left farther and farther behind us the winter 
that was stealing upon our friends at home. 
As I suffered very little from sea-sickness, I 
was able to enjoy the fresh breeze that filled 
our sails and pressed our ship through the white- 
capped waves that tossed their heads before, be- 
hind, and on every side of us, seeming to long to 
enter, and now and then succeeding in pitching 
their crests headlong over our bulwarks. Of our 
company of fourteen, some sat upon the bul- 
warks wrapped in their cloaks and basking in 
the sunshine, too sick to enjoy the romance of 
ocean life ; others walked the deck for exercise ; 
while a few, unequal to any effort, sought deli- 
verance from the horrible nausea of sea-sickness 
by lying quietly on their backs in their berths. 

Our first Sabbath at sea was by no means a 
quiet one. The weather was squally and the 
wind high. Our ship rolled from side to side 



18 



in a way that was far from agreeable to voy- 
agers so inexperienced as we were. We had a 
service in the morning, however, conducted by 
the senior member of our company. The mo- 
tion of the ship was so great that we dispensed 
with many of the formalities of more stable 
churches, the preacher firmly holding to an 
upright post, while the audience braced them- 
selves against cleeted chests and table-legs. 

That night we had our first experience of a 
gale at sea. We turned into our berths, but 
not to sleep. The roar of the wind in the rig- 
ging, the furious pitching of the ship, the crash 
of boxes and trunks, thrown from their places 
and dashed from side to side of our state-rooms, 
the rush and tramp of men overhead, the quick, 
fierce orders of the captain, the cries of the 
sailors, and the swashing of water as it rolled 
in over the sides and down the deck of our ship, 
conspired to impress with a feeling of terror all 
who were not quite insensible to fear. Happy 
they who in such an hour rejoice to know that 
a Father's hand controls the winds and waves, 
making all things work together for their good ! 

A few weeks at sea made us feel quite at 
home in our new residence. Our ship was an 
ordinary merchantman of six hundred and fifty 



OUR SHIP. 19 



tons burden. Her deck, extending from the 
bow to the stern in one unbroken level, gave a 
walk of nearly a hundred and forty feet ; but 
passengers are not expected on ordinary occa- 
sions to go forward of the mainmast, so that 
only the after half of the ship was ours. Below, 
we had a series of little cabins against each 
side of the vessel, separated from each other by 
partitions of white pine, and a central cabin 
common to all. The little rooms, appropriated 
one to each family, were but six feet six inches 
square, giving just space enough for berths, a 
trunk, and washstand, both firmly secured. 
They were lighted, each by a single thick glass 
bull's eye, let into the deck overhead. But 
close as were our quarters, we were a cheerful 
and happy company. Many a pleasant evening 
did we pass around our pine table, and many a 
pleasant walk did we have up and down the 
quarter deck. 

Our ship was manned by a captain, two 
officers, and fourteen men and boys. The officers 
live aft with the passengers ; the men forward 
in a small cabin in the bow of the ship called 
the forecastle. Supreme authority is vested in 
the captain ; from his will there can be no ap- 
peal at sea. It is the sailor's part to obey. 



20 



There is no greater mistake than to suppose 
that the sailor's life is an idle or an easy one. 
When on deck he is always at work, (except at 
night,) either on the rigging or hull of the ship. 
Shifting the sails is but a fraction of his duty. 
In a long voyage scarcely a rope or thread is 
left untouched. The wear and tear of sunshine 
and storm call for a constant overhauling and 
repairing. Scraping, scrubbing, painting, 
tightening, tarring, bracing, furling, and loosen- 
ing, are continually going on, and there is 
always something still to be done. 

With many of the young there is a passion 
for sea life. They have read of its stirring 
scenes of adventure, and dwelt on its excite- 
ments till their minds are filled with eagerness 
for a sailor's berth. How many a lad, capti- 
vated by the poetic idea of being a "sailor boy," 
has left his parents' roof to seek his fortune on 
the ocean ! And oh how wofully are they dis- 
appointed ! It sounds well ; but what is a 
sailor boy, and what are his duties ? They are 
as truly and really work as the duties of the 
plough boy. His duty is to sweep the deck 
when dry, and swab it when wet ; to feed and 
water the fowls and hogs, and keep their pens 
clean ; to carry, fetch, and run on errands be- 



ACROSS THE LINE. 21 



tween the forecastle and the cabin, the deck 
and the masthead ; to do every dirty job, and be 
sworn at, and called fool and blockhead, by 
captain, mates, and men ; and through it all to 
be civil and cheerful, and jump and run with a 
ready "ay ! ay ! sir I" at every call. 



Our forty-second day at sea found us cross- 
ing the line. To most of our company this was 
a new era, as few had seen land or water south 
of the equator. We were not subjected, how- 
ever, to the ceremonies formerly attendant on a 
first passage of the equatorial line at sea ; we 
thus escaped the lathering with grease, and 
shaving with an iron hoop, the sousing in brine, 
and other penalties which, in old times, were 
inflicted upon " green horns," to the amusement 
and delight of the " old salts," who were wont 
to enjoy a short season of license on such occa- 
sions. 

This practice is passing into disuse, nor 
would it have been relished by our captain, who 
was himself making his first India voyage. 



22 OCEAN SIGHTS. 



Some new hand may have been told to stand 
by to push the line under the bows ; but beyond 
a joke or two, the event was as unmarked as 
the line itself. 

We had by this time seen the usual sea sights, 
so important a variety in life to those who for 
months plough the endless succession of ocean 
billows without a change of scene or company. 
Among these were flying-fish in shoals ; like glit- 
tering arrows darting from the water, they skim 
through the air for a hundred yards or so, and 
drop into the wave that meets them ; their 
enemy, the dolphin, swift as lightning in the 
pursuit of his prey, arrested by our vessel, stops 
to play about the moving island, shows us his 
glittering form, and perhaps tempted by a rag 
dangling from a hook, falls a victim to his blind 
rapacity; and porpoises, round-bodied, black, 
and whale-like in form and nature, come bound- 
ing and leaping almost with the regularity of a 
battalion of cavalry in ranks of four or six, now 
curving so as just to show their backs, and now 
springing from the water into the air. These 
poor creatures, too, fall victims to the hand of 
man. Our captain twice harpooned a porpoise, 
and gave us the privilege of tasting fresh steaks 
at sea. The flesh is red, (for the porpoise is a 



23 



red-blooded sea-animal rather than a fish,) and 
not unlike beef in appearance and in taste. 

Quite often the stirring cry of "Sail ho !" 
called all hands on deck, and sent every eye 
glancing over the waters to catch a glimpse of 
the stranger. Nothing so breaks the solitude 
of the vast ocean, with its limitless plains of 
tossing water, as the sight of fellow-travellers 
upon its bosom. When the stranger barque 
bears down upon you, and the little birdlike 
thing, that in the distance was but a speck upon 
the horizon, swelling as it approaches to a cloud 
of canvas overhanging the narrow hull, lies 
side by side with your own sea home, you feel 
that you are not alone. The voice of the com- 
mander, as he hails you with his bluff " Ship 
ahoy ! what ship is that ?" and exchanges ques- 
tion and answer, seems like the voice of a friend 
or brother. This intercourse, however, usually 
lasts but for a few moments ; and the two ships, 
bowing and curvetting as they rise and fall upon 
the waves, go each upon its own way, until, 
losing each other in the distance, each is once 
more alone upon the deep. 

In the North Atlantic we had the usual 
alternations of winds, fair and foul, blowing 
from every quarter of the compass. Passing 



24 TRADE WINDS. 



farther south we entered the wide belt of ocean 
over which the north-east trade wind blows. 
These almost unchanging winds, on both sides 
of the equator, known as "the trades," are re- 
markable evidences of the goodness and wisdom 
of God. The beauty of this arrangement can- 
not but strike a thoughtful voyager most deep- 
ly. Without dwelling upon the fact that these 
and their partner winds are the great regulators 
of airs, clouds, and rains over the whole earth, 
we cannot but notice their great importance to 
commerce. Every seaman knows that for 
twelve hundred or fifteen hundred miles north 
of the line he may look for a fresh breeze from 
the north-east during the whole year; again, 
south of the equator he will have some two 
thousand miles of ocean in which a south-east 
wind always blows. Often for two or three 
weeks scarce a sail will be shifted. The balmi- 
ness of the air, and the beauty of the fleecy 
clouds, make the trades a most delightful part 
of an East India voyage. 

On either side of the equator, and between 
these two broad belts of easterly wind, lies the 
region of calms and squalls. It was through 
this region of light winds, squalls, and calms, 
that Columbus made his slow way to America, 



CALMS AND SQUALLS. 25 



when he might (had he known this arrange- 
ment of the air-currents) have sailed down on 
the track of the trade wind. Returning, he 
committed an equal error by working his weary 
way to Europe against this steady north-east 
wind. In the equatorial region the atmosphere — 
impelled sometimes in one direction, sometimes 
in another, and often almost without motion in 
the equilibrium of a calm, loaded with vapour, 
and heated by a torrid sun — oppresses both body 
and spirit. Drenching showers, gusts of wind, 
and waterspouts are frequent. The latter, in 
the distance, are interesting enough; but when 
too near, are viewed by the mariner with great 
dread. A whirlwind creating a vacuum in its 
centre, the water of the ocean rushes up to fill 
it, while the cloud above descends to meet the 
ascending column. It passes over the face of 
the ocean with a rotary motion, and at times 
crossing the track of a vessel, tears its sails 
and spars to pieces. 

The squalls, or sudden gusts of wind and 
rain, though less romantic than the waterspout, 
are more useful, as they afford the voyager an 
opportunity to fill his empty water-casks. During 
a heavy shower, the lee scuppers, by which the 
water makes its escape, would be stopped till 



26 EMPLOYMENTS. 



the rain was ankle-deep upon the deck ; our fat 
second mate, then, coolly seating himself on the 
deck, with the water flowing around him, and 
washing the tar out of his blue jean pants, 
bailed it up with a bucket and handed it to the 
bare-footed men who passed it to the water- 
cask.' Although the first gush of the shower 
had been suffered to wash the deck and run off 
by the scuppers, yet, when our "fresh water" 
was served to us at the table, there was a fla- 
vour of salt, tar, and various other elements, 
that made it plainly a different thing from that 
which is known as fresh water on shore. In a 
few days its smell, colour, and taste became so 
odious, that it was unanimously banished from 
our cabin. 

Our days and weeks were not passed in idle- 
ness. Sometimes the motion of the ship was so 
violent, that it was as much as we could do to 
hold on to the rail and watch the waves ; but 
in ordinary weather we found a variety of occu- 
pations with which pleasantly and profitably to 
fill up our time. After our morning devotions 
and breakfast, we turned to our grammars to 
make a beginning in the languages in which we 
were to teach the Hindus. The afternoons 
were spent in reading, writing, singing, and 



THE DOOR SHUT. 27 



walking ; then came tea, evening prayers in 
our cabin, and a closing walk on deck. 

Yet we had one great trial : our voyage went 
on ; days not to be recalled were passing ; we 
felt that we were fellow-travellers to eternity 
with all on board ; but we were permitted to do 
nothing for the seamen. On Sunday morning 
one-half of their number — that is, the watch off 
duty — had the privilege of attending worship 
with us in our cabin, if they chose to do so. But 
we were forbidden to invite them to come, or to 
speak to them at any time, whether they were 
on duty or off duty. Nor were we permitted 
to have services on deck, as is customary in such 
voyages. Permission for only one of our num- 
ber to organize a Bible class for them was re- 
fused by the captain, on the ground that it would 
produce insubordination. 

As we had every reason to believe that, from 
the captain to the cook, not one of the ship's 
crew feared God, we could not but grieve that 
the door was thus shut against us. Yet we sub- 
mitted to the authority of the commander of 
the vessel. One door he could not close against 
us, for " the eyes of the Lord are upon the 
righteous; his ears are open to their cry." To 
him we could cry, and no man hinder us. 



28 HIGH LATITUDES. 



Our ship pressed on in her southward course, 
battling with wind and wave, until the equator 
had been left two thousand miles behind us. 
We had now made southing enough, and turn- 
ing eastward, varied our course but little for 
four thousand miles. The most southern point 
of Africa was far to the north of us, and there 
was no land to stop our progress to the east. 

With the tropics we had left tropical heat 
and languor, and in these higher latitudes found 
cool air, high winds, and rough seas. We were 
again glad to be clothed warmly, and to walk 
the deck briskly, wrapped in coat and cloak. 
This seemed appropriate to December and the 
Christmas holidays ; but it must be borne in 
mind that we were in the southern hemisphere, 
where December and January are midsummer 
months, and July and August winter months. 
We were really experiencing a summer in the 
south temperate zone, in a latitude correspond- 
ing to that of South Carolina, or Gibraltar, in 
the north. These seas, however, some hun- 
dreds of miles to the south of the Cape of Good 



OFF THE CAPE. 29 



Hope, are cool, if not cold, in summer as well 
as in winter. 

The wind in these latitudes generally blows 
freshly from the west ; hence those who would 
go to the east give the Cape a wide berth, and 
favoured by these west winds - sail rapidly on 
their course. The rough seas we here meet 
are, to those sensitive to sea-sickness, a draw- 
back from the satisfaction of rapid progress. 
But the hardy seaman thinks not of this. As 
he looks aloft at the swelling canvas filled by 
a favouring breeze, with every backstay, brace, 
and sheet strained to its utmost tension, and 
glances over the side at the foaming waters 
.through which his vessel ploughs her way, a 
smile steals over the most grim countenance, 
while its owner speculates as to how many knots 
she makes an hour, and how many degrees of 
longitude she will have passed when the daily 
reckoning is cast at noon. 

Our captain seemed ill at ease. At times he 
was cross-grained and surly ; but these " spank- 
ing breezes" that furled our royals, and sent us 
foaming through the waters with bending masts 
and snapping cordage, often charmed the evil 
spirit away ; they were as David's harp to the 
uneasy soul of Saul. 



30 A STORMY CHRISTMAS. 



Christmas week was a stormy one. We now 
had an opportunity to see the ocean in its an- 
grier moods. On December 23d, we were 
running at our greatest speed before a fresh 
breeze ; the ship, a pyramid of canvas, dashed 
proudly through the water. The wind increas- 
ing, the captain furled three studding-sails, and 
went below to breakfast. Before the meal was 
over, a wave came rolling in at our stern-win- 
dows, flooding the cabin, and at the same in- 
stant, a boom, unable to bear the strain, snapped 
asunder, one fragment dropping into the sea. 
The lighter sails were soon got in, but still 
every thing creaked and strained. The flying- 
jib was then furled, and the spanker brailed 
up; the fore topgallant-sail, main royal, and 
main topgallant-sails soon followed. Still the 
wind was not satisfied ; order followed order ; 
the courses were got in ; the sailors rushed 
aloft, and lying out upon the yards, took reef 
after reef in the top-sails, until at noon we were 
dashing ahead with a few narrow strips of 
canvas stretched to the gale, and the waves 
tossing us on their broad brawny backs, or 
flinging over us their foaming tops. 

During the whole day an India-bound ship 
was in full view, keeping pace with all our 



GALES AND SEAS. 31 



movements. In the heaving sea, she rolled and 
righted, and rolled and righted, and rolled 
again, while the brave seamen, cheeriest when 
work is hardest and danger greatest, were 
stripping her of her white vesture. At last 
she was like ourselves, stripped and girt for 
the battle with wind and wave. It was a gal- 
lant and a goodly sight. 

Evening came, but not the still quiet of the 
closing day on shore. The bulkheads and par- 
titions creaked and groaned as if a thousand tor- 
tured spirits were writhing in their close seams ; 
the ship leaped as though smitten by rolling 
hills,. and then pitched into yawning gulfs. The 
wind whistled through the cordage and roared 
around the sturdy masts, while the dash of 
waters upon the deck added to this dismal 
concert. 

I had often wished to see the ocean in a 
rage, but now felt nearly satisfied; a few days 
later, when, in a much fiercer gale, the ship was 
hove-to, unable to run on account of the vio- 
lence of the sea, and rolling her yards and bul- 
warks into the waves, I should have felt well 
content if I were never to see a wave again. 
The driving rain and fierce winds, that seemed 
tearing mountain masses from the ocean, and 



32 GALES AND SEAS. 



hurling them with intense malignity at us, drove 
us from the deck to the cabin. Here the only 
practicable employment was holding on to some 
fixed object. 

At night it seemed still worse, for the vio- 
lent rolling of the ship loosened all things 
moveable, sending them rushing across the 
cabins. The noise beggared description. 
You might have imagined that all things had 
long since gone to destruction; but still the 
crash and clatter went on. At one time the 
steward's pantry-door was jerked open, and out 
flew a cheese, a keg of pickles, and other 
articles ; with the next roll of the ship, back 
they went, entering our room, and tearing down 
our curtain ; another roll, and they are off 
again, and so on, till captured and secured by 
the poor distracted steward. Our captain felt 
this weather sorely ; angry with the winds, the 
waves, and all about him, he chafed, and fret- 
ted, and scolded, and swore. A stranger to 
the wellspring of peace, he attributed his un- 
happiness to his situation, rather than to its pro- 
per source — his want of trust in God. Discon- 
tented and grumbling, he declared that he would 
"buy a monkey, and turn music-grinder," if ever 
he got to America again, rather than go to sea. 



DAY DAWNING. 33 



' But day dawned, and with it brighter scenes. 
The wind had abated, and the sea, though still 
high, was not so violent as to forbid our enjoy- 
ing its grandeur and sympathizing with the 
little storm-petrels that joyously skimmed its 
surface, or admiring the majestic albatross, 
soaring around us with its sail-like wings 
(twelve feet from tip to tip) spread to the wind, or 
settling in easy repose upon the tossing waves. 

About this time we began to see some signs of 
encouragement to persevere in prayer and efforts 
to benefit our fellow-voyagers. The captain, 
though often harsh and discontented, frequently 
came to our religious services. He was evidently 
ill at ease. A copy of Pilgrim's Progress, which 
had been lent him, was often in his hands ; and 
his Bible was not unread. One of the crew 
also, (an English lad of respectable and pious 
parentage,) was very seriously impressed with 
divine things. He told our doctor, who daily 
went to the forecastle to visit a poor sick sailor, 
that he had resolved to be a Christian. 

One Sunday evening, when George was at 

the Y/heel, (by which the rudder is turned, and 

the ship guided,) the ladies seated near him 

commenced singing hymns. They were singing, 

' ; Guide me, thou great Jehovah !" 



NEW YEAR. 



when suddenly he began to turn the wheel ra- 
pidly to bring the ship up to her course, from 
which she had slid off while his attention was 
diverted by the hymn. This brought a rough 
reproof from the captain. The poor boy's 
heart was full. Darkness had come on, but as 
he stood silent at his post, with his eye upon 
the compass, we could follow the motion of his 
hand as with its brown back, from time to time, 
he brushed away the falling tear. 

New- Year's day rose fair and lovely. The 
waters, so lately tossed in all the fury of the 
storm, now sparkled gayly in the bright sun- 
light. It was the day set apart by many Chris- 
tians in America for prayers for the conversion 
of the world to Christ, and we resolved to unite 
our supplications to theirs. Well might we turn 
to God for aid, when, after eighty-three days 
at sea, the forecastle was still closed against 
us, and so little had been done for the precious 
souls sailing with us in that little barque over 
the sea of life to the eternal world. It proved 
a solemn and a profitable day. 

A new year was opening upon us, and, with 
it, new events. The next Sunday, the first 
Sabbath of the year, was a marked one in our 
little community. A solemn stillness rested on 



THE SABBATH. 35 



all things. Even the winds and waves seemed 
to respond to our morning song — 

"Welcome, sweet day of rest 
That saw the Lord arise!" 

In the afternoon our services had commenced, 
when the captain came in and took his arm- 
chair in the corner. The sermon was full of 
plain earnest truths ; and when, at its close, 
the speaker called upon a brother missionary 
to add a word of exhortation, all felt that it 
was a solemn season. The truth was plainly 
brought home to all, that no effort teas needed 
to ruin the soul of man; that he was on the 
road to death ; and that to make his destruction 
sure, it was only needful that he should do 
nothing. A ship is under sail, the wind blows 
fresh, and she is bearing down upon a rock : 
let her alone, and her destruction is certain. 
Or a squall suddenly arises : let her alone, 
shorten no sail, do not put the vessel before the 
wind, and no effort is needed to insure her 
ruin. Or she springs a leak : the water gains 
upon her ; only do nothing, and she will soon 
sink to the bottom of the sea, and carry with 
her to destruction her rich freight of souls. So, 
sinner, is it with you. Do nothing, and your 



36 THE DOOR OPENED. 



ruin is as certain as it is fearful. Hell gapes 
for you, and if you turn not, you are lost ! 

The captain's uneasiness was excessive. He 
could not sit still. His handkerchief was con- 
stantly in his hands or at his eyes. In the 
evening, a tract headed, "The door was shut," 
which was given to him, seemed to affect him 
deeply. 

The following Saturday we were called to- 
gether by one of our number to read a note, put 
into his hands by the steward. It was from the 
captain, and ran as follows : — 

" Dear Sir : — In the early part of the voy- 
age, you asked my permission to go into the 
forecastle and talk with the seamen. Permis- 
sion was then refused you. It is to be hoped 
that three-fourths of the voyage is past; and 
as it is never too late to do good, you now have 
my free permission, for yourself and the other 
servants of God in your company, to visit the 
seamen in the forecastle, to warn them to flee 
from the wrath of God, and to seek their souls' 
salvation through the intercession of the Lord 
Jesus. As the men are in the habit of sleeping 
on deck in the night, I think the watch off duty 
could spare an hour in the morning to be in- 



THE DOOR OPENED. 37 



structed in the way of everlasting life. If you 
are received by the men, you can arrange with 
them on the hour of your visits. Your visits 
must be with the watch below, and not interfere 
with ship's duty. 

" Wishing you success in all your labours, 
I remain, very respectfully, 

Yours, &c." 

How could we but exclaim — ' ; What hath 
God wrought !" Those only could appreciate our 
feelings of joy and wonder, who had been like 
us shut up with an isolated company of their 
fellow-beings, within the narrow limits of a 
merchantman for near a hundred days. What 
could more plainly show the power of God over 
the hearts of men ! If you would know our 
emotions, when, after this first visit to the fore- 
castle, two of our number reported that they 
were gladly received by the men, read, as we 
did, the 126th Psalm :— 

"When the Lord turned again the captivity 
of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then 
was our mouth filled with laughter, and our 
tongue with singing : then said they among the 
heathen, The Lord hath done great things for 
them. The Lord hath done great things for 



38 JOYFUL DAYS. 



us ; whereof we are glad. Turn again our cap- 
tivity, Lord, as the streams in the south. 
They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. He 
that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious 
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 
bringing his sheaves with him." 



fogbd lags. 

The following Sabbath was a joyful day with 
us. Our morning Bible-class, which we held 
as usual among ourselves, w r as pleasant and 
profitable, and our afternoon sermon very so- 
lemn. In consequence of a special invitation, 
five men were present, who, for eight weeks 
past, had not walked the length of the deck to 
attend public worship. The captain listened 
eagerly, and with a visible agitation ; after- 
ward he read attentively in " Doddridge's 
Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul." 

Strange to say, up to this time he had sup- 
posed his concern of mind to be known only to 
himself; but the change in his bearing had 
been for some days too great to pass unnoticed. 
He was serious in his deportment, and kind 



A BURDENED SOUL. 39 



both to passengers and sailors, though he had 
been greatly tried by the behaviour of some 
of the crew. At our evening prayers he was 
regular in his attendance. It was evident that he 
was burdened with a sense of sin and misery. 
He also evinced much interest in what was 
being done for the crew. In a conversation 
with one of his passengers, he requested that 
" old Bob," a poor Greek sailor, who had long 
been ill, might have such instruction as he 
needed. The missionary took occasion to urge 
upon him the duty and privilege of immediate 
trust in Christ as a Saviour. The Spirit of 
God was striving with him, and we feared that 
if he cast off these solemn impressions, he would 
be left to go on and perish in his sins. 

We were now on our hundredth day at sea. 
Its evening was bright and beautiful, and our 
ship dashed nobly through the water. The 
captain was seated on the ship's rail when I 
came on deck. He soon came over to the side 
which I was pacing, and taking a seat, said 
that he would like to speak with me when I 
had done walking. After a turn or two, I took 
my seat upon the rail beside him. He gazed 
for a few moments at the glittering waters ; 
then turning to me, said, " I have news to tell 



40 A SINNER SAVED. 



that you will be glad to hear ; I have the as- 
surance that I can say, I know that my Re- 
deemer Mveth" I could but grasp his hand 
and say, '"Good news, indeed! This is the 
Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." 

The conversation of the morning with our 
companion had deeply impressed him, and he 
went to his state-room to pray. But here arose 
a struggle — should he go down upon his knees 
and pray ! His pride revolted from it ; he 
would stand and pray. He did so, but it was 
of no avail, for he knew that he had not hum- 
bled himself before God. A fierce struggle 
arose in his breast. It was the strong man 
armed keeping his goods. Satan was loath to 
leave his seat. But a stronger than he had 
come to demand entrance. The poor sinner 
felt that he must yield or perish ; that this was 
the turning-point in his history ; that he must 
go down upon his knees and cry for forgive- 
ness, or be lost. The Spirit of God triumphed ! 
The proud knees were bowed, the hard heart 
melted into penitency. Angels rejoiced, for a 
sinner had repented. His burden was gone, 
and his heart went up in praise and thanks- 
giving to God. 

I cannot repeat all that he said; but, among 



A SINNER SAVED. 41 



other things, he mentioned that after dinner he 
had gone to his room with the intention of 
lying down to sleep, as he had a headache. He 
did not sleep, however ; the thoughts of his 
heart ascended to God, and he felt a happiness 
he had never known before. It seemed as if 
he could almost see the light of his Saviour's 
countenance, and he thought that should he in 
a moment be taken to heaven, he still would 
long to see other souls saved. "Yes," he con- 
tinued, " the souls of those men on board whom 

I have cursed in my heart and wished " 

but the sentence was not ended. He said that 
he had determined a to acknowledge Christ 
before men that day," and had intended to do 
so at evening prayers, but his heart failed him. 
After a long conversation I went below ; and, 
with the captain's permission, collecting our 
company from their state-rooms, (for the hour 
was now late,) made known to them these glad 
tidings. It was an exciting moment, for 
our anxiety had been most intense. Some 
smiled, some wept, some wondered; but all re- 
joiced, while, uniting in prayer, we gave glory 
to God. The next day had been set apart as a 
day of fasting and special prayer for our cap- 
tain ; but, having experienced the fulfilment of 



42 THE FORECASTLE. 



the promise, " Before they call I will answer 
them," we resolved to employ it as a day of 
thanksgiving. 

This was the day of my first visit to the ship's 
forecastle. Entering by a narrow hatchway, 
with a sliding door, and descending a few steep 
steps, I found myself in a close little room in 
the bow of the vessel. In shape, it was semi- 
circular, with nine berths against the wall, (only 
half as many berths are needed as there are 
men, since one watch is always on deck,) and 
over against the berths were the sailors' chests, 
which also served for seats. On entering, I was 
warmly invited to take a seat, " such as it was," 
on one of the chests. At first the dim light 
admitted by the doorway, made still more dim 
by clouds of tobacco-smoke, wrapped the scene 
in a misty twilight. Gradually the shape 
of the forecastle, and the employments of the 
men, became more distinct. On my right was 
seated Aleck, an American, very ignorant and 
very depraved, the worst man in the ship ; he 
was busy with his thread and needle, repairing 
the damages of the last squall, and saluted me 
heartily. Next was George, a tall Italian. 
swarthy and black-e^d, who rolled his long 
body out of a berth as a mark of respect to the 



THE FORECASTLE. 43 



visitor. Beside him was Irish Jack, a lively, 
active fellow, but now in disgrace for insolence 
to the first mate. On my left sat Andrew the 
Swede, always tidy and clean, gravely smoking 
his pipe. Boy George, old Bob the Greek, 
with Irish Jimmy, completed the watch — a 
motley group of seven men of five different na- 
tions. And yet, with much wickedness, pro- 
faneness and recklessness, there was so much 
of the whole-souled frankness of the sailor, that 
they were a most interesting company. My 
proposal to spend an hour with them every 
other morning, when they would have " the 
watch below," was accepted with a hearty 
" Yes, sir !" from them all. 

Sunday came, and its first sound betokened 
the change that had taken place. It was a 
broom sweeping the deck; there was to be no 
deck-washing to-day. For the first time on 
the voyage the previous afternoon had been 
given to both watches, that they might prepare 
for the Sabbath, and have no work to do upon 
that holy day. After spending an hour with 
the crew in the forecastle, I returned to the 
cabin, leaving almost the whole crew as quietly 
engaged with their tracts and books as if in a 
Sunday-school. In the cabin, the usual Bible- 



44 BEHOLD HE PRAYETH. 



class had resolved itself into a prayer-meeting; 
and there, in his arm-chair, sat our captain. 
Two or three had spoken or led in prayer, when, 
suddenly and unexpectedly, his voice was heard 
in broken tones of earnest supplication. It was 
deeply affecting to see the proud man humbled 
and become as a little child. He praised God 
for his mercy, besought the forgiveness of his 
sins, and prayed that all on board might fear 
God. Nor was his confession general ; it was 
notour sins, but "my sins," that he confessed 
and bewailed. 

Permission to have public worship on deck, 
which had been heretofore steadily refused, was 
now given unasked, and no one was so busy as 
our captain in preparing suitable accommoda- 
tions. Both watches were invited to attend, 
and three only (all foreigners) were absent. 
The men, with the officers and passengers, were 
seated about the preacher, and earnestly lis- 
tened to the word of God; while the helmsman 
stood reverently at his post with his head un- 
covered during the whole service. Rarely have 
•I been one of so solemn an assembly. The 
sermon was on the folly of delaying repentance, 
from the text, "Oh that they were wise, that 
they understood this, that they would consider 



THE INDIAN OCEAN. 45 



their latter end I" It seemed to sink into the 
hearts of the hearers. One poor fellow, deeply 
burdened with sin, was unable to restrain his 
emotions, and our captain wept often. Before 
long, the young man alluded to had learned to 
look to God his Saviour, and rejoice in him. 



Our voyage was now drawing to a close. We 
had passed far to the east of the Cape of Good 
Hope, and turning northward, entered the 
tropics. Warm clothing was laid aside, and 
fresh air and shelter from the burning sun 
eagerly sought. The experience of the torrid 
zone in the Atlantic was repeated in the Indian 
Ocean, and we again had the alternations of 
light winds, calms, and squalls. 

But though these external circumstances 
were the same, how changed a place was our 
ship ! It seemed to be a new world, and our 
life a new life. This impressed me, especially 
at the close of the second Sabbath after the 
great change in our captain. It was a brilliant 
evening. The planet Jupiter was shining 



46 PRAYERS FORWARD. 



brightly in the east, and Venus as brightly over 
against it in the west, while immediately over- 
head the moon rode among silvery clouds, pour- 
ing a flood of mellow light on the gently-rippled 
waves. The missionary passengers were seated 
here and there, or walked the deck; the cap- 
tain was stretched upon the ship's rail, with his 
Bible in his hand. In the forepart of the ves- 
sel the crew were grouped around two of our 
company — it was evening prayers forward. The 
two gentlemen were seated on camp-stools. At 
their left hand, on a spar lashed to the deck, 
sat the poor Greek, whose daily wasting 
frame was a living sermon, the Spanish sailor, 
the Scotchman, the Italian, the Swede ; before 
them an American boy ; on their right the rest 
of the crew. All were eagerly listening. From 
the after-part of the ship, I could see in the 
soft twilight the gestures of the speaker, as, 
with his Testament in his left hand, he pointed 
with his right to heaven. I quietly drew near 
and heard the words, "Behold, I stand at the 
door and knock; if any man hear my voice 
and open unto me, I will come in and sup with 
him and he with me." 

Our days now passed more swiftly than we 
wished. We felt loath to leave the labours just 



47 



begun, and to lose the companionship of our 
captain, now a friend and brother. Some of 
the men also seemed impressed; and we would 
willingly have prolonged our voyage to water 
the seed that had been sown, but the end of 
our ocean journey was at hand. The end of 
life's way was more near at hand to one of our 
fellow-voyagers ; it was the Greek sailor, " Old 
Bob," as he was always called, a weather- 
beaten, sun-burnt tar, some fifty years of age. 
His features were those of the Greek, and his 
costume had something of the air of his nation. 
The sailor's life is a hard one, and he was a 
broken-down old man, though far short of three- 
score years and ten. We had been but a few 
days at sea when he became sick, and he never 
returned to his duty. During the latter part 
of the voyage his breathing was most painful, 
and so violent as to be heard all over the ship ; 
his limbs were swollen and diseased. The cap- 
tain, whose heart was now full of love to all 
about him, lent him his arm-chair, and in this 
the poor man sat groaning and panting for 
breath day and night. When conversed with, 
at first, he showed some emotion, but latterly 
all feeling seemed to have left him. Kindness 
and attention were repaid by discontent and 



48 DEATH AT SEA. 



cursing. At times he would drop asleep, and 
ceasing to think of his breath, would awake 
suffocating, and break the silence of night with 
the most awful outcries. Seated in the arm- 
chair, on our last Saturday at sea, he died. His 
groans in this world will be heard no more ; 
but where, oh where, is his soul ? 

The Sabbath morning broke calm and peace- 
ful. At an early hour the body of the poor 
Greek was brought to the ship's gangway for 
burial. The corpse, sewed in a canvas wind- 
ing-sheet, with weights attached to the feet, 
was laid on a plank at the open port. Every 
soul on board was present. Amid a solemn 
silence, a hymn was sung. The oldest of the 
missionary band, having read select portions 
from the Scriptures, and led in prayer, made a 
solemn address to the living ; again he read 
from the Scriptures, and at a fitting moment 
the plank was raised, and the body launched 
into the deep. With a heavy splash it fell upon 
the water ; there was a gurgling ; a few bubbles 
rose and broke, and once more all was still as 
death. 

The men resumed their seats, and listened 
with earnest solemnity to a brief address from 
another, calling upon them to prepare to meet 



DEATH AT SEA. 49 



their God. We had preached often ; but upon 
this last Sabbath of our voyage God was speak- 
ing to all in a manner that could not be mis- 
understood. 

[Note. — Time proved the conversion of onr captain to have 
been no temporary excitement, but a true work of the Spi- 
rit of God. About a year after the departure of our good 

ship B from Madras, the same vessel, with the same 

commander, again furled her sails, and dropped her anchor 
in "the roads. Hardly had the anchor touched bottom be- 
fore our friend was on shore, and making his way toward 
the house of his missionary passengers. The warmth of 
his greeting showed that his heart was true. He had 
grown in grace, and was full of the deepest interest in our 
work among the heathen. The native Christians looked 
with astonishment upon a godly captain cheering them in 
their efforts to follow Christ, and he with delight iipon con- 
verts from the idolatry of their nation. Upon his former 
arrival he had received from his wife a letter of congratula- 
tion upon his being rid of the missionaries, who, she knew, 
would be a source of great annoyance to him. During this 
visit he heard from her, that she also had resolved to serve 
the Lord, and with him travel the road to heaven. Again 
he left lis, and again a third year found him in Madras, 
still growing in grace, and delighting in the society of 
Christian friends. Again he returned to India, but not to 
go again to his earthly home. He was cut down by cholera 
in Calciitta, and has gone, we cannot doubt, to be with 
Him whom, not having seen, he loved. 
5 



50 



limit fa! 

" Have a man aloft to look out for land," 
cries the captain. For more than eighteen 
weeks had we been at sea, but, by the myste- 
rious agency of a timepiece and sextant, we 
knew that land was just before us. The order 
was gladly obeyed; and soon, "Land ho!" 
comes from the masthead, and " Land ho ! 
land ho !" resounds through the ship. "Where 
away?" cries the captain. 

" On the lee bow," is the reply. 

It could not be seen from the deck ; but 
mounting the mainmast, I caught sight of the 
blue hills of India. Yes ! India ! India I was 
before my eyes. My heart throbbed, and my 
soul was lifted up to God with an earnest de- 
sire to devote myself to his service in this dark 
land. Soon the shore was visible from the 
deck, and all feasted their eyes with the sight. 
The hills were the "high hills of Madras," but 
thirty miles south of our desired haven. The 
deep-sea line was got out, and the lead cast ; 
we were in forty fathoms water. The shore 
grew more and more distinct, until, with de- 




Madras Catamaran, p. 51. 



HINDU CRAFT. 51 



light, we saw trees rising upon the distant 
horizon. Every moment brought new excite- 
ments. Now a native vessel is bearing down 
upon us with its coarse black sail surmounting its 
primitive hull ; the vessel looking as heathenish 
as its crew. Soon the cry of " boats" is raised ; 
they are the catamarans of the Coromandel 
coast ; one is just before us. It is manned by 
three Hindus, who stand or kneel, and ply their 
paddles now on this side, now on that, with great 
rapidity and skill. Their barque is composed 
of five untrimmed logs lashed together, (cata- 
maran means "tied trees,") and is sunk to the 
level of the water by their weight, so that at a 
little distance, you might imagine the boatmen 
to be walking on the sea. No matter how high 
the waves, when all other boats are worthless, 
the fisherman fearlessly launches his catamaran, 
and ventures out to sea. 

Our visitors (for they boarded us to sell us 
fish) were dressed in a strip of cotton cloth 
about their loins, and a peaked and brimless 
hat of palm-leaf; one of them was more fully 
dressed, having on a woollen jacket, procured 
from some ship. As they clambered up the 
ship's side, almost naked, with their black 
bodies glistening in the sun, and jabbering in 



52 AT ANCHOR. 



an unknown tongue, with squeaking voices and 
eager gestures, they seemed to us more like 
monkeys than men. Yet we remembered that 
they had souls as precious as our own, and 
prayed for strength to labour in faith for India's 
swarming millions. 

As we passed with a light breeze up the coast, 
new scenes constantly broke upon our gaze, 
and objects were more clearly discerned as we 
drew nearer to the land. By afternoon we 
were abreast of the Seven Pagodas of Mala- 
veram — ancient temples standing upon the shore ? 
and one of them on a rock washed by the sea. 
A little later, Mount St. Thome, which is but 
eight miles south of Madras, came in sight, with 
its shining-white Roman Catholic Church, the 
reputed burial-place of the apostle Thomas. At 
sunset the Madras light shone bright before us. 
Soon the masts of shifts lying in the roadstead 
could be dimly seen in the darkness, and at 
half-past eight o'clock our anchor was dropped, 
and our voyage of one hundred and thirty-one 
days was at an end. 



MADRAS ROADS. 53 



late Unto. 

Expectation makes sleep light. Long before 
daybreak I had left my berth for the deck. No 
helmsman stood at the firmly -lashed wheel. No 
sail was set. A single seaman silently paced 
back and forth. Overhead the stars twinkled 
brightly, while before us glimmered the lamps 
of the great city. The smell of land came over 
the water upon the soft balmy breeze, which 
brought to our ears the sound of the surf cease- 
lessly beating upon the shore. All senses com- 
bined to say that our voyage was done, and 
land at hand. At length daylight came, and 
Madras started into reality before our eyes. 

We lay more than a mile from the low, level 
shore, which as far as the eye can reach is 
fringed by the graceful cocoanut-tree, and the 
tall palmyra palm. Before us lay the walled 
town, and, fronting upon the water, the custom- 
house and mercantile establishments, with their 
long ranges of pillared buildings. As these are 
two and three stories in height, and handsomely 
plastered with the brilliant chunam (lime) of 
Madras, their appearance is quite imposing. 



54 MADRAS ROADS. 



To the south stands the lighthouse, in a wide 
green, and beyond it Fort St. George, with 
its strong walls, smooth-sodded glacis, deep 
rnoats and frowning cannon. The banner of 
Old England floats from its flag-staff, and pro- 
claims her dominion over these wide realms. 
Still beyond, tall trees conceal the city, with 
here and there the summits of pagodas and 
minarets peeping out above their tops. On our 
right lay the suburb of Royapooram, almost 
hidden by the cocoanuts and palms in which 
the Hindu so much delights, and beyond it the 
solitary shore and surging sea, over which the 
catamaran, Masulah boat and the Dhoney, 
(native vessel,) with its dusky sail, are con- 
stantly passing to and fro. 

At an early hour the native boatmen were 
on the beach, launching their boats, and pull- 
ing for the newly-arrived ship. As they suc- 
cessively reached the vessel, they made fast 
their unwieldy boats, and very unceremoniously 
boarded us. Our deck soon swarmed with 
Hindus, from the almost naked oarsmen in 
search of employment to the Dubash (inter- 
preter) in all the magnificence of flowing robes, 
embroidered slippers, jewelled ears, and mas- 
sive turban. But fine as these gentry looked, 



GREETINGS. 55 



tliey were on the same errand as their more 
homely countrymen in their suits of natural 
black. All were intent on the one business of 
making something from the new-comers. The 
English, which was the stock in trade of the 
Dubashes, they had mostly learned in mission 
schools. The pronunciation of some of these 
conceited linguists made us suspect that their 
love of lucre had cut short their education at a 
very early stage. 

By ten o'clock two boats were seen ap- 
proaching, furnished with awnings in the stern, 
and, with our glasses, we made out that each 
bore a topee-wallah, (or hat-wearer,) as Euro- 
peans and ♦Americans are called. As they 
come near all eyes gaze earnestly — they wave 
their hats — a rope is thrown, and soon our 
hands are grasped in the warm welcome of our 
countrymen and fellow-labourers at Madras. 
Salutations over, we lowered a few changes of 
clothing into the boats, and turned to take 
leave of our fellow-voyagers, the officers and 
crew of our ship; nor could we restrain the 
starting tear, when, standing for the last time 
upon the deck we had trod so many days, we 
received the farewell grasp of the rough-handed 
men. A chair having been rigged, the ladies 



56 THE MASULAH BOAT. 



were lowered over the ship's side, and in two 
boats we started for the shore. 

The Masulah boat, used upon the Madras 
coast for landing passengers and freight from 
vessels lying in the roadstead, is a rudely built 
boat, some twenty-five or thirty feet long, ten 
feet wide, and seven deep. The planks of 
which it is made are not fastened with nails, 
but sewed together with twine made from the 
husk of the cocoanut ; and straw is stuffed be- 
tween the seams. The bottom of the boat is 
covered with brushwood, on which you lay your 
trunks secure from the water that constantly 
enters by the seams, and swashes below. The 
peculiar advantage of their construction is, 
that the boats, (in taking the beach,) give and 
twist and bend in the often terrific surf of 
Madras, when an English boat would be dashed 
to pieces. The men, ten or twelve in number, 
sit upon cross beams at the top of the boat, 
pulling away at long oars, or rather poles, with 
heart-shaped paddles tied to their ends. In 
the stern, the tindal or steersman, with a long, 
blade-shaped oar, stands on a boarded space 
just back of the awning which screens the pas- 
sengers from sun and spray. AYith grunts and 
groans and discordant songs, the half-naked 



THE SURF. 57 

boatmen plied their rude oars in obedience to 
the pilot, who, by the loudness of his tones, 
seemed fully aware of the responsibility of his 
| 3St. TThen we neared the breakers that make 
the Madras coast famous, they commenced in 
earnest. With loud yells, and cries of * ; Allah ! 
Allan. .' Allah .' Allah. ."' the oarsmen responded 
to the fierce cries and stamps of the steersman. 
As we mounted the first of the three lines 
of breakers that roll in upon the beach, they 
pulled and shouted with a fury that might well 
alarm a new-comer ; the boat, with its head to 
the shore, slid rapidly onward with the foam- 
ing illoWj and the first breaker was passed. At 
the second and the third the scene is repeated, 
and the boat comes grinding upon the beach ; 
the men leap overboard, haul it higher up, and 
bear you in their arms, or on a chair, to the 
dry sand. At our landing, the sea was unusu- 
ally smooth, and gave no idea of the Madras 
surf as I have often since seen it. After a 
gale its power is terrific, and the scene upon 
: ach, when catamarans and Masulah boats 
attempt to cross it, most exciting. Over and 
>vei -gain they will be hurled back upon the 
shore : but the hardy felloes manage at length 
to pass the barrier, and go to the assistance of 



58 LANDING. 

stranding vessels. At times, however, even 
they fail, and whole crews perish within a cable- 
length of the gazing crowds upon the beach. 

Just beyond the sandy beach runs a fine 
road parallel with the water, with the custom- 
house and stores upon its farther side. Here 
the whole scene was full of life ; all was new 
and strange. Wagons and turbaned men, 
bullock-carts, palankeens, and bearers thronged 
the road, and all were at our service. Escaping 
from the pertinacious crowd of natives, who, 
with jabbering tongues, claimed our acquaint- 
ance, and demanded payment for imaginary 
services, we entered a carriage, and were driven, 
by a road full of novel sights and sounds, to 
the house of Mr. Winslow, our honoured senior 
in the mission work, who, for thirty years had 
laboured in the land on which we now first trod. 






PART II. 



The devoted and lamented Henry Martyn, 
when touching at Madras, on his way to North- 
ern India, in 1806, made the following entry 
in his journal : — 

" April 26th. Towards night I walked out 
with Samee, my servant, in a pensive mood, 
and went through his native village of Chin- 
daput. Here all was Indian ; no vestige of 
any thing European. It consisted of about two 
hundred houses ; those on the main street con- 
nected ; and those on either side of the street 
separated from- one another by little winding 
paths. Every thing presented the appearance 
of wretchedness. I thought of my future 
labours among them with despondency ; yet I 
am willing, I trust, through grace, to pass my 
days among them, if by any means these poor 
people may be brought to Grod. The sight of 
men, women, and children, all idolaters, makes 
me shudder as if in the dominions of the prince 
of darkness. But what surprises me is the 
change of views I have here from what I had 

59 



60 CHINTADREPETTAH. 



in England. There my heart expanded with 
hope and joy at the prospect of the speedy con- 
version of the heathen ; but here the sight of 
the apparent impossibility requires a strong 
faith to support the spirits." 

It was in this suburb of "Chindaput," or, 
more properly, Chintadrepettah, that we found 
our first Indian home. At the present day, more 
than forty years since Henry Martyn visited 
Madras, and walked in the streets of Chintadre- 
pettah, a great change is seen to have taken 
place. From a village of two hundred houses, 
it has grown into a large and flourishing dis- 
trict with fifteen thousand inhabitants. On the 
corner of the main street (through which he so 
sadly walked, seeing nothing but unbroken and 
unopposed heathenism) now stand, in a well- 
enclosed compound, (or enclosure,) a neat Chris- 
tian church, a commodious school-house, and a 
small open bungalow* for preaching. 

Not only Chintadrepettah, but the whole 
city, is rapidly increasing in population. 
Rather more than two hundred years ago, (in 
1639,) a company of English merchants re- 
ceived the grant of Madras, as a spot of ground 

* The term bungalow is variously applied by the English, 
in India, but mostly to buildings one story high. 



GROWTH OF MADRAS. 61 



upon which to build a fort and factories, from 
the Rajah of Chandgherry, a petty prince of 
the interior. It was then a small fishing vil- 
lage. But as the power of this company of 
English merchants increased, and its influence 
widened, it acquired more territory. The little 
village, with its fort for the protection of tra- 
ders, grew into a walled town, the centre of 
extended possessions. As the work of acquisi- 
tion went on, its importance rapidly increased, 
until now it is a city of seven hundred thousand 
inhabitants, the great and growing metropolis 
of the possessions of the East India Company 
in Southern India. The native princes who 
then held courts and ruled in these lands are 
forgotten; and their descendants, sunk into in- 
significance, live upon pensions granted them 
by the English rulers of the realms of their 
ancestors. 

Madras lies upon the Coromandel or eastern 
coast of Hindustan, thirteen degrees north of 
the equator. It stretches for several miles along 
the shore of the Bay of Bengal, upon a flat 
sandy plain, raised but a few feet above the 
level of the sea. The old walled city is known 
as Black Town, from its being densely popu- 
lated by Hindus. On its southern side, the 



62 THE MISSION HOUSE. 



large and strong Fort St. George takes the 
place of its wall. Around this central town and 
fort, an unoccupied and beautifully level space, 
seven hundred yards wide, is kept as an 
esplanade. Stretching around the city from 
north to south, it prevents the approach of an 
enemy to the walls under cover. The rapidly- 
increasing population finding no room within 
the walls, has spread itself in a continuous semi- 
circle of suburbs beyond the esplanade and 
around the old town. The residences of the 
English are without the town, and almost en- 
tirely in the districts south of the fort. 

Chintadrepettah is the suburb lying south- 
west of the city. A few hundred yards from 
the church, which stands upon the main street, 
is the American mission-house, with school- 
bungalows, houses for native teachers, and out- 
houses. Driving up to the door upon the morn- 
ing of our disembarkation, we found ourselves 
in front of a neatly-plastered house, one story 
in height, with a verandah (portico) supported 
by pillars ; mats hanging between the pillars, 
defended the house in front from the glare of 
the sun. The carriage door was soon opened 
by Chinnatamby, a Hindu servant, and with a 
profusion of salutations we w T ere welcomed to 



THE MISSION HOUSE. 63 



India. Lifting the tat, (mat-screen,) we en- 
tered the central hall, and found ourselves in 
an airy room, with a lofty ceiling, in which the 
brown rafters were uncovered, but neatly 
painted. It was plainly furnished with chairs, 
tables, and sideboard. This is used as a dining, 
sitting, and receiving room ; on each side of 
the hall are smaller apartments, used as sleep- 
ing-rooms and study. On the floor was a rat- 
tan mat, neat and cool, though rough ; and 
over the table hung the Indian punkah, a swing- 
ing fan suspended from the ceiling. After our 
little six-feet square apartments on shipboard, 
it seemed a luxury indeed to have room enough 
to turn in, and to be able to raise our arms 
without fear of striking the ceiling over our 
heads ; and, after tossing nineteen weeks upon 
the deep, doubly pleasant was it to be shown 
to a quiet chamber, with a little bath-room at- 
tached, to be all our own. And when we sat 
down at our table to send to anxious friends 
the news of our safe arrival, with a cup of 
tropical flowers before us; the margosa-tree, 
waving its branches without our Venetian blinds ; 
the loud cawing of crows, and the plaintive 
whistle of the Brahminee kite, coming to us 
from a cocoanut-tree hard by; the squirrels 



64 



shrilly squeaking in an adjoining room, and 
the voices of Hindu men and women sounding 
in our ears, — we felt that of a truth we were in 
India. 

The first call we received, after the saluta- 
tions of the dwellers in the compound, was from 
a company of jugglers, who are always on the 
alert for new-comers. They were four in num- 
ber, dressed only in the indispensable turban, 
and a piece of cotton cloth wrapped around 
their loins. Approaching the house with two 
or three baskets and bags containing their ap- 
paratus, they, with low salaams, (made by 
raising the united hands to the forehead, and 
bending the body,) begged permission to ex- 
hibit their wonders before their royal high- 
nesses, the gentlemen and ladies. Having 
received permission, they seated themselves 
cross-legged upon the brick floor of the veran- 
dah. Opening their bags, they produced a few 
trumpery articles, balls, covers, knives, &c, 
and commenced their performances. They had 
no distance and darkness to help them; no 
tables with false tops and drawers with false 
bottoms ; yet, seated on the floor, and under 
our very eyes, they fully equalled the wonder- 
ful magicians who astonish the youth of our 



INDIAN JUGGLERS. 65 



cities with their feats. Balls put upon the floor 
disappeared and were produced from their 
naked arms ; pigeons, emerging from empty 
baskets, lit upon their shoulders, and many 
other wondrous things were shown. Among 
others, the dried skin of a cobra di capella (a 
snake whose bite is death) was laid down be- 
fore us, and a small piece of dirty cloth thrown 
over it ; on removing the rag, a huge living- 
cobra lay coiled at our feet. They piped to it, 
and the venomous serpent, rearing itself, grace- 
fully balanced and undulated before us with 
glistening eyes and head flattened to the shape 
and almost the size of a tea-plate. It seemed 
just ready to spring and plant its fangs ; but 
the juggler, coolly stroking it, took it up, wound 
it about his neck, and then put it away in his 
bag. A few cents paid them for their trouble. 
These visitors had not been long gone, when 
a loud and doleful cry of " Awkey ma ! Awkey 
ma! fine things got, ma!" told us that some 
new friends were at hand. "What is this?" 
we asked. " Oh ! the hawkers have found out 
that there is a new arrival, and have come to 
exhibit their goods," was the reply. The 
hawker (travelling merchant) drawing near, 
respectfully raising his right hand to his fore- 



QQ THE HAWKER. 



head, which is bowed to meet it, in broken 
English asks leave to show his stock of goods. 
He is far too great a man, pedlar-like, to carry 
a pack himself; rustling in white robes, he 
calls with a lordly air to the almost naked 
coolies (hired men) who follow him, streaming 
with perspiration, and bending under the huge 
green trunks which they carry on their heads. 

" Well, hawker, what have you?" 

"Plenty fine things, ma'am; mistress only 
look," and the trunks are lowered from the 
coolies' heads to the floor. They are opened, 
and the merchant begins to take out and show 
every article, enlarging upon its beauty and 
excellence. The lady interrupts him with — 
" Have you any jaconet muslin ?" 

" Plenty got, ma'am ! mistress only wait ! 
mistress don't want any collar ? very fine col- 
lar, this ! only ten rupees ; very fine, this !" 

"No! no! hawker; I have no time; let 
me see the muslin." But Mr. Hawker well 
knows that temptation enters by the eye, and 
he exhibits all things supposed to be attrac- 
tive to a lady's heart, until the customer's pa- 
tience is just exhausted, when, with wonderful 
quickness, the desired article is produced. The 
next thing is to settle the price ; no easy mat- 



THE HAWKER. 67 



ter. "Two rupees," says the hawker. "How 
much?" cries the lady. "Two rupees yard, 
Hia'am; plenty cheap, ma'am." 

" Two rupees ! I will give you eight annas." 
(Sixteen annas make a rupee, which is worth a 
little less than half a dollar.) 

"Mistress shall have for rupee and half; 
very cheap, that ; cost price, one rupee quar- 
ter;" (i. e. one rupee and a quarter.) 

"No! hawker, no! half rupee is plenty." 

"Can't give," says the hawker, and begins 
to repack his goods, quite accidentally, of 
course, leaving the article under discussion for 
the last. "Mistress, give one rupee?" he asks 
in his most insinuating tone. "No ! I will give 
eight annas," answers the lady, rising to go. 
" Take, ma'am ! take !" cries the hawker, and 
the sale is made. The great chests are packed, 
tied, and remounted on the coolies' heads, the 
hawker makes his salaam, and with his suite 
departs. 

These men are a great convenience, not only 
to persons residing in the city, but also in the 
inland towns, as they make long journeys with 
their goods, calling at every station in which 
there are foreign residents. In Madras, not 
only clothing, but glass, china, fruit, fowls, 



THE HAWKER. 



stationery, and a great variety of useful articles, 
are thus brought to your door, and sold at very 
reasonable prices. As they always ask three 
or four times the proper price, the purchaser 
must offer what in his judgment is fair, and 
stick to it. If it is too little, the hawker goes 
off; if too much, he profits by your ignorance. 
They are as provoking and amusing as useful. 
In some cases their superstition gets the better 
of their craft. If they come to you in the 
morning before making any sale, you can make 
your first purchase pretty much at your own 
price ; this insures them good luck through the 
day. Receiving the money from your right 
hand, (they will not take it from the left,) they 
strike it on their box, crack all their knuckles, 
and go off quite contented. 

As a race, the Hindus are devoted lovers of 
money. It is commonly said, if you would 
touch a Hindu, you must touch his pocket ; it 
is strictly true. They will do almost any thing 
for money, and suffer any thing rather than 
give it up. But it ill becomes the American 
or Englishman to upbraid them with this. When 
a Hindu was once taunted by an Englishman 
with their love of money, and told that they 
would do any thing for a pice, (a small copper 



A MORNING WALK. 69 



coin,) lie replied, " The English are a great 
people, a very great people ; they do not care 
for the pice ; oh, no ; they do not care for the 
dirty pice; what they care for is the 
rupee !" 



% Stoning id. 

Early the next morning we left the house, 
impatient to have a look at the new world into 
which we had entered. The sun had not risen, 
and the air was soft and cool. The somewhat 
straggling oleanders and jessamines that 
adorned the compound bloomed bright and 
fragrant, and the soft green drapery of the 
margosa-tree had a peculiar charm for eyes 
that for months had seen no vegetation more 
brilliant than sprouting potatoes and turnips. 
Passing through the gate and by a few houses, 
we entered the main street of Chintadrepettah, 
with the mission church on our right. 

Immediately opposite to it stands a small tem- 
ple — a temple of the elephant-headed Ganesha 
or Pullyar ; and a poor little house he has, not 
more than twelve feet square, built of brick 



70 CHINTADREPETTAH. 



plastered and whitewashed. Yet it is quite 
large enough for its purpose, and for the merits 
of the black stone whose abode it is. At a 
window-like opening in the front of the temple, 
sits the hideous misshapen block, ever ready 
to receive the adorations of passers-by. The 
poor god has an attentive priest who twines a 
robe around his black shoulders, greasy with 
oily libations, adorns his face with paint, and 
presents to him flowers, prayers, and incense. 
Beyond this he attracts little notice, except 
that now and then a wayfarer of more than 
ordinary piety stops, unites his hands before 
his forehead, mutters a prayer, and goes on his 
way, or, it may be, falls on his face to offer 
more humble worship. 

As yet it was too early for men to think of 
the gods ; in fact, few were thinking of any 
thing. Stretched at full length on their porticos, 
or on the beaten ground in front of their houses, 
they were enjoying their morning sleep as 
well as if decently tucked in a bedstead, like 
civilized creatures. With their upper robe 
turned into a sheet, and their turban beneath 
their heads, they lay stretched, completely co- 
vered, and looking exactly like corpses laid out 
for burial. We took the first sleeper we saw 



A MORNING WALK. 71 



for a dead body, and had some appropriate re- 
flections upon the heathenish indifference with 
which the wife pursued her work around it. 

Though their lords were sleeping, the wives 
were busy enough. One was sweeping out her 
dwelling, another her verandah, and another, 
having done her sweeping, was purifying the 
hard-beaten earth floor with a mixture of 
water and cow-dung — the best of all cleansing 
agents in the eyes of the Hindus, as a product 
of the holy cow, and really useful in keeping 
off vermin. After the purification is finished, 
the verandah is ornamented with white lace- 
like patterns of crossed and waved lines made 
with powdered lime, which is taken in the hand 
and suffered to run in narrow streams between 
the fingers, and when carried rapidly back and 
forth produces the desired figures. These are 
sometimes pretty and ornamental, and afford 
an opportunity for the display of female taste. 
By this time the men are up, and the sheet 
(resuming its duty as a coat) is loosely thrown 
over the shoulders, or wrapped around the 
waist, while the owner moves off to the tank or 
river side for his morning ablutions. 
I Near the church is a police station, and at 
the door stand the peons (native constables) in 



72 CHINTADREPETTAH. 






a little knot, discussing their last arrest. They 
wear wide Moorish pantaloons of red silk, and 
a white close-fitting robe, ending in a flowing 
skirt ; over the shoulder they wear sashes as 
marks of office, and red turbans on their heads. 
They are usually tall fine-looking men, and 
very well dressed ; their behaviour, however, 
does not commonly tally with their looks and 
pretensions. A rupee or two has a remarkable 
effect in blinding and deafening these ministers 
of the law. The poor, who cannot afford the 
bribe, have but a sorry chance in the race for 
justice, as the peon's eyes and ears are only" 
open on the side that pays him the best fee. 

Beyond the police station the streets are 
formed of connected rows of houses, usually but 
one story high, with a narrow portico in front, 
and a door, but no window opening on the 
street. The houses have a mean appearance, 
when compared with those of our cities, but are 
not devoid of neatness ; they are plastered and 
whitewashed, and frequently have seats of 
brick-work, covered with polished chunam on 
the verandah, where, in the evening, the men 
lounge and smoke. Several of the streets are 
bazaars, consisting of long rows of shops ; but 
at this early hour they only show empty stalls 




Peon, or Policeman, p. 72. 




Castor oil mill. p. 73. 



A MORNING WALK. 73 



and bolted doors. The owners, if up, are 
dreamily squatting on their hams, cleaning 
their teeth, scraping their tongues with silver 
scrapers, or chatting with neighbours. The 
scavengers, a poor degraded caste, are busy 
with long wooden hoes, removing from the gut- 
ters the accumulated filth of the preceding day. 
There are no sidewalks, and man and beast go 
on their several errands together in the middle 
of the street. Cows going to pasture, donkeys 
bringing grain, men and boys, buffaloes, dogs, 
and peons jog quietly along in one track. 

But the sun is up, and no sooner up than 
powerful. Turning back, we meet a long 
array, some going to the river for their morn- 
ing duties, others starting for their business. 
The last lazy householder has been thawed out 
of his public bedroom, and the streets assume 
an air of life. The bazaar men are opening 
their shops, and in the lot over the way the 
creaking of the castor-oil mill has commenced. 
As the oxen move slowly round and round with 
the cross-beam, the great pestle grates out 
; harsh music, and grinding the beans against 
; the wooden mortar, expresses the oil. Castor- 
oil, as well as cocoanut-oil, is here used for 
burning in lamps. The priest is at work adorn- 



74 MOUNT ROAD. 



ing his idol, as we turn into our dwelling to 
unite with our friends in a morning tribute of 
praise to the one true God, maker of heaven 
and earth. 



itattt %mk 

Mount Road is the favourite evening drive 
of the foreign residents of Madras. It leads 
from the city to Mount St. Thome, a few miles 
to the south, the reputed burial-place of the 
apostle Thomas, and a holy place of the Roman 
Catholics of India. The road is hard, level, 
and smooth, and has been made with great 
labour by the English government. Leaving 
the fort on your left, you pass between rows of 
tulip-trees, dotted with yellow flowers, which 
have been planted for shade to foot-passengers. 
The first object of interest is a colossal bronze 
equestrian statue of Sir Thomas Munro, a dis- 
tinguished governor of this presidency. It 
stands upon a lofty stone pedestal, and is an 
admirable work of art. The natives of the 
land, both human and brute, however, seem 
somewhat to have mistaken the object of its 



75 



erection ; for the simple countrymen from the 
interior may often be seen stopping to lift their 
hands in reverential worship before the noble 
statue, certainly more godlike than their gods; 
while the crows, imagining that the gallant 
general and great governor has been placed 
there for their accommodation) use his head as 
a look-out station, and build their nests in his 
ample lap. 

Leaving Sir Thomas, and crossing a bridge 
over the Coom, a small river passing through 
the city, w r e have a fine view of the sea across 
the open green ; and reaching the Chintadre- 
pettah bridge, have the government-house upon 
our left. This is one of the dwellings provided 
for the governor of Madras. It is a large, 
half- oriental, half-European palace, with veran- 
dahs and Venetian blinds protecting each story 
from the glaring sun of India, and is sur- 
rounded by a spacious park, with sentries at 
the gates, and herds of antelopes grazing under 
the trees. 

After passing the government-house, the 
sides of the road are occupied for a short dis- 
tance by the shops of jewellers, milliners, con- 
fectioners, and tradesmen, often extensive and 
standing in large compounds ; they are kept 



76 MOUNT ROAD. 



by Englishmen or by East Indians, (as persons 
of mixed blood are commonly called,) and are 
filled with goods of every description. 

But, as new-comers, we found far more to 
interest us in the crowds walking, riding, and 
driving over the hard red surface of the road. 
Single coolies, with boxes on their heads, or 
baskets heaped with fruits and greens for the 
markets, or three in company pulling, like 
horses, a heavy, awkward, two- wheeled cart, 
meet you, with the perspiration streaming down 
their black bodies and limbs. Foot-passengers 
walk in groups, joking, laughing, gossiping, or 
puffing their segars. Countrymen and travel- 
lers from neighbouring towns go gazing at 
every new sight ; their wives, with bundles on 
their heads, following after, with little boys 
holding to their skirts. The poor women and 
girls of the city are gathering dung from the 
road into baskets, to be mixed with straw and 
dried for fuel. The grass-cutters (usually women) 
are coming in from the country, each with a 
bundle of grass on her head, one day's labour 
giving one day's food to the horse she tends. 
The letter-carrier next trots by, with his mail- 
bag hung over his shoulder on a staff jingling 
with -pieces of iron to frighten beasts of prey 



77 



from his lonely path at night. Apart from all, 
as far as may be in such a crowd, walks the old 
Brahmin, followed by his two gray-haired wives. 
With this varied stream of foot-passengers 
comes as varied a crowd of vehicles. English, 
officers of rank roll along in their barouches, 
with coachman and footman, and a groom run- 
ning beside each horse. Ladies loll back in 
their phsetons, while their horsekeepers, running 
before, clear the road with loud cries of "Poh ! 
poh ! Appaley poh !" (go ! go ! away ! away !) 
or help out of the way those who are too care- 
less or too surly to give place soon enough to 
the splendid English trotters of their mistress. 
People of less pretension drive past in buggies 
and palankeen coaches with a single horse, and 
its constant attendant, the syce, or running 
groom. Here comes a strange pyramidal affair 
drawn by two white bullocks ; it is a native 
bandy, with its Hindu occupant sitting cross- 
legged upon the floor, and the driver at his feet 
urging on the bullocks by cries and kicks and 
pokes of his whip-handle, ever and anon bestow- 
ing an excruciating twist of the tail upon the 
more stubborn of the pair. After it comes 
another bandy, closely covered, with the eyes, 
and jewelled noses of Hindu wives and mothers 



78 MOUNT ROAD. 



peering through the curtains. Next you will 
see a fat goldsmith seated on a little affair, the 
size of a wheelbarrow, drawn by a single red 
bullock no bigger than a Newfoundland dog ; 
and then a wagon crowded with five or six 
lank bearded Musselmans, and a driver in 
front urging on a miserable starved pony with 
merciless blows. 

Nor is the variety of riders much less : army 
officers and gentlemen on blooded horses from 
England, Australia, or the Cape of Good Hope ; 
Mohammedans, on ambling ponies ; Arabs, on 
spirited steeds from their native land ; Hindu 
body-guardsmen, in their splendid uniform ; 
young cadets, with the fresh blood of England 
blooming red in their cheeks, — pass in quick 
succession ; while now and then a camel, with 
its long, swinging gait, or an elephant loaded 
with camp equipage, add to the novelty of the 
scene. 

As you get farther from the city, the throng 
diminishes, and you have leisure to turn your 
eyes from the wayfarers to the many handsome 
dwellings that skirt the road. They commonly 
stand in large parks, surrounded by a wall or a 
cactus hedge, and planted with palms, mango- 
trees, margosas, and tamarinds, or with the 



CHINTADREPETTAH SCHOOLS. 79 



sacred and far-famed banyan, sending down 
from its branches long fibrous roots, to become 
in their turn trunks supporting the parent 
branch. The houses are many of them magni- 
ficent dwellings, combining the height and com- 
fort of English homes with the porticos, 
Venetians, terraces, and balustrades of the 
East ; nor do they give a false idea of the mode 
of life of the Englishman in India, combining, 
as it does, the luxuries of two hemispheres, and 
grafting the furniture, equipage, meats, and 
wines of Old England, upon the stock of Ori- 
ental ease and elegance. 



A new-comer, at Chintadrepettah would 
hardly fail, when seated at breakfast, to ask 
the meaning of the hum and hubbub from with- 
out that saluted his ears ; and on being answer- 
ed, would conclude that there must be strong 
lungs among the pupils of the mission schools. 
Such, certainly, was our conclusion when we 
heard the clamour of youthful voices ; nor was 
it unfounded, for few spots can exceed in noise 



80 HINDU SCHOOLS. 



and confusion a Hindu school in full blast. The 
popular belief seems to be, (so far as we can 
judge from popular practice,) that as learning 
is received by the brain through the medium 
of the ear, the improvement made will be in a 
direct ratio to the strength of the impression 
upon the tympanum. The lesson thundered 
out by the teacher is re-echoed by the class, 
and as every pupil studies at the top of his 
voice, the din is prodigious. In the native 
schools the method is to learn certain books 
by heart, with very little reference to their 
meaning, and very little profit aside from as 
much reading, writing and arithmetic as will 
serve to carry the owner through the ordinary 
business of life. Geography is entirely un- 
studied, except some primary facts, such as the 
shape of the earth, which is said to be that of 
the lotus or water-lily, with seven seas and in- 
tervening mountains surrounding it ; these seas 
are of various fluids ; first, salt water ; then 
sugar-cane juice, wine, melted butter, milk, 
curdled milk, and, beyond the last ring-like 
mountain, a sea of fresh water. Their teach- 
ings as to the size of the globe correspond with 
their views of its shape : thus the earth is four 
thousand millions of miles in diameter, with the 



MISSION SCHOOLS. 81 



vast Mount Meru in its centre towering up six 
hundred thousand miles in height, with a base 
one hundred and twenty-eight thousand miles 
in circumference. On my once remarking to a 
well-educated Brahmin that it was singular 
that no traveller had ever caught sight of this 
vast peak, he answered that they probably had 
never travelled far enough to see it. 

In Christian schools this din is modified as 
far as possible ; but when the teaching is by 
natives, trained in the native way, there must 
and will be noise enough to deafen civilized 
ears. On Mr. W.'s invitation, I accompanied 
him in his morning's visit to the schools upon 
the mission compound. We had to walk but a 
few steps to the bungalow in which the verna- 
cular school for girls is kept. The school- 
bungalow is a long low building, with unglazed 
windows, large doors, a tiled roof and hard- 
beaten earth-floor spread with mats. As we 
drew near, the noise subsided, and the girls, 
about eighty in number, rising from their mats, 
saluted us with a loud " Good morning, sir," 
and then stood quietly in two long rows. Be- 
hind the second line stood the teachers, each 
with his turban on his head, one hand holding 
a serviceable rattan, and the other enveloped in 



CHINTADREPETTAH. 



his flowing robe. They gravely bowed and sa- 
laamed as w T e entered. The missionary, glancing 
his eye along the array of girls, gave a signal 
to the first, who repeated in a strong, clear voice 
a text from the Tamil Daily Eood. The se- 
cond and the third followed, and so on down 
the line to the little creatures four or five years 
old, who could only lisp out a fragment of the 
daily text. 

It was a pleasant sight to see these poor 
girls, children of idolaters, forbidden by their 
sex, according to Hindu law and custom, all 
the advantages of education, thus gathered 
by the hand of Christian love to be refined in 
mind and heart, and taught the w r ay of life. 
Though they rarely remain after eleven or 
twelve years of age, and may at any moment 
be taken away by the jealousy of heathen 
parents, yet before that time they may re- 
ceive impressions for good that even the cor- 
rupting and deadening influences of Hindu 
social life will not obliterate. If the influence 
be not apparent in this generation, it may be 
in the next, when these girls have become wives 
and mothers. 

The girls of this school, though of good caste, 
are from the poorer classes of society; for those 



MISSION SCHOOLS. 



of the highest caste may be as poor as beggars 
-without affecting their standing. Their very 
presence upon the compound of a Christian 
missionary is one of the evidences of the change 
that is stealing over the face of Indian society. 
Their complexions, though dark, are soft and 
smooth, and their features by no means devoid 
of beauty ; indeed, they often are very pretty ; 
their hands and feet are small and well-formed, 
and their figures graceful. To our eyes, the 
marks painted upon their foreheads and the 
rings in their noses are no great additions to 
their beauty, and the frequently dirty state of 
the clothing of the poor is far from attractive ; 
but intelligence beams in their sparkling black 
eyes and bright faces. Culture of mind and 
holiness of heart only are needed to fit them 
for their duties as daughters, wives and mothers ; 
their need of both cannot be exaggerated. Sad 
indeed is the state of woman in this land. By 
Christian effort only can she be raised to fit- 
ness for her high calling. 

The dress of the smaller girls in the school 
is simply a petticoat of figured calico, tied by 
a tape at the waist ; even this they would not 
need at home. The larger girls, in addition to 
the skirt, wear a short-sleeved jacket or bo- 



84 CHINTADREPETTAH. 



dice, and over it a light -white robe. Their jet- 
black hair is braided, or gathered into a mass 
back of the left ear, and adorned with flowers, 
of which they are passionately fond. In quick- 
ness, they are equal to children of the same 
age in any land. Every day the native teacher 
or his assistant goes to the houses of his pupils 
to send or bring them to school. 

The missionary himself does not attempt to 
teach in these schools, but oversees and in- 
structs the teachers ; if married, he has the 
assistance of his wife in the management, in- 
struction, and oversight of the girls. Their 
studies are largely scriptural. After learning 
to read, and at the same time to write, they 
commence with simple catechisms and Scripture 
narratives, advancing to the Gospels, Psalms, 
arithmetic, and geography, with sewing. The 
teachers, generally men, because the women 
of the present generation are untaught, are 
paid from two to four dollars a month ; the as- 
sistants or monitors, from one to two dollars. 

When the text for the day had been repeated, 
a few questions were asked, to see that its mean- 
ing had been understood, a few words of ex- 
hortation were given, and prayer oifered in the 
Tamil language. The school then divided into 



MISSION SCHOOLS. 85 



classes, and commenced their studies and recita- 
tions with the native teachers. 

We now went to the church compound, 
and entered the two-storied building in which 
the high school meets. Here, some one 
hundred and fifty boys and young men were 
seated on wooden benches, almost filling the 
principal room. A monitor (assistant teacher) 
is calling the roll; and, "Ramasamy," "Runga- 
samy," " Chinnappah," "Rungappah," " Chin- 
nasamy" and a host of " Samys" (i. e. gods or 
lords) are answering to their names with a 
loud "present" or receiving a mark for 
absence. It is worthy of note that almost all 
Hindus bear the name of some one of their 
gods. This is a most economical arrange- 
ment in a religious point of view, as every 
utterance of the boy's name is an act of great 
merit, and secures the favour of the god. Thus, 
when the father exclaims, " Come here, you 
Narayana-samy !" or, " I will give you a good 
flogging, Narayana-samy !" or, "You lie, ISTa- 
rayana-samy !" he is increasing his stock of 
religious merit by repeating the name of Nara- 
yana, one of the names of the god Vishnu. 
The roll-caller, if this were true, would cer- 
tainly be a favoured mortal, for he daily utters 



86 CHINTADREPETTAH. 



the names of all the more important and ho- 
noured members of the Indian Pantheon. 

A general " Good morning, sir!" salutes us 
as we enter the hall and take our seats on a 
slightly raised platform at its upper end ; the 
teachers show their zeal by moving through the 
ranks, and brandishing their rattans threaten- 
ingly at the scapegoats of their flock. When 
all are composed, English Bibles are produced, 
and the place found. Mr. "W. reads the first 
verse in Tamil, and is followed by a scholar 
reading the same verse in English. After 
asking any questions suggested by the subject, 
he reads the next verse, followed by the next 
boy in English. Thus some twenty verses are 
read, the Bibles closed, the passage explained 
and enforced, and prayer offered in Tamil, 
during which all present stand. The daily 
text is next repeated, both in Tamil and Eng- 
lish, and any matter requiring public comment 
receives attention. The classes are now called, 
and the boys file off with their respective 
teachers to different rooms to study and recite. 
The instruction is by a head-teacher, who is 
an East Indian, and several Hindu assistant 
teachers and monitors. Of these some are 
Christians, and some heathen. Of course, good 



MISSION SCHOOLS. 87 



Christian teachers would be preferred for every 
department; but they cannot always be pro- 
cured in the present state of education in India, 
and we must use the best tools we can get until 
better ones can be prepared. 

In addition to the study of the Scriptures 
and of the evidences of the truth of Christianity, 
the lads of this school go through a full course 
of English studies, in which they use the Eng- 
lish language. They study arithmetic, algebra, 
geometry, trigonometry, and surveying, Eng- 
lish composition, the history of Rome, England, 
and India, with general history and natural 
philosophy. It must be borne in mind that 
they are not carried through these branches by 
the missionary himself, but that the instruction 
is carried on by hired native teachers, while he 
is engaged with matters more strictly religious. 
After leaving the school, the young men, if 
nominally heathen, and conforming to the cus- 
toms of the countrymen, are almost universally 
at heart convinced of the folly of idolatry and 
its attendant superstitions. They are qualified 
for stations of responsibility ; and some remain 
as assistant teachers, while others enter the 
medical, engineering, and surveying depart- 
ments under government, or engage in other 



CHINTADREPETTAH. 



useful callings. They are from more respect- 
able classes of the community, and generally 
of higher castes, than the pupils in the verna- 
cular or purely Tamil schools. All castes, 
however, are freely admitted. Here you will 
find high-caste Sudras, Kajpoots, Moham- 
medans, and even Brahmins, sitting beside the 
abhorred and despised Pariah. Many of the 
boys are both handsome and highly intelligent. 
Some of the Brahmin boys, .especially, are ex- 
ceedingly engaging in their appearance. They 
are generally well dressed, wearing either the 
usual male costume of a cloth around the waist 
and hanging down below the knees, with another 
over the shoulders ; or the scholar's dress — a 
long-sleeved white pelisse extending to the 
knees and covering the inner cloth. On their 
heads some wear turbans, others high-peaked, 
starched linen caps that have a very absurd 
appearance. Their heads are shaven, except a 
tuft on the crown called the Coodamy. I was 
not a little amused when two young shavers, not 
ten years old, gave as an excuse for absence 
from church on Sunday, that "the barber did 
not come in time to shave them !" 

"What, it will be naturally asked, induces 
these lads thus to come to a Christian school, 



MISSION SCHOOLS. 89 



where they are taught that Hinduism is false, 
and where they are required to drop all dis- 
tinctions of caste ? And why do bigoted parents 
permit them thus- to go where their faith in the 
religion of their ancestors will be destroyed 
and their caste endangered ? The motive is a 
desire to obtain a knowledge of the English 
language. At present there is in India a won- 
derful passion for the study of English; this is 
the language of the rulers of the land, of its 
courts and officers, and a knowledge of English 
is a stepping-stone to place, honour, and wealth. 
Christian missionaries lay hold of this circum- 
stance, which makes fathers willing to risk the 
conversion of their sons if they may but get an 
English education. The missionaries of the 
Scotch churches, especially, have directed their 
entire energies to this branch of the mission 
work ; and in Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, and 
other great cities, are exercising an immense 
influence over the youth of India. Of their 
scholars, several have become teachers, preach- 
ers, and ordained ministers of the gospel, while 
others have lucrative situations under govern- 
ment. The University supported by govern- 
ment, in which English is taught without the 
Bible, has been far less popular than the mission- 



90 CHINTADREPETTAII. 



schools with the Hindus themselves. The often- 
repeated assertion, that the use of the Christian 
Scriptures would be offensive to the Hindus, is 
an absurdity. Nothing could be more in ac- 
cordance with their ideas of propriety than 
that youth should be taught in the Shastres or 
holy books of the language they are studying. 

There are about six hundred young men, 
boys, and girls receiving instruction at the 
station under the care and influence of the mis- 
sionary,* at a very small expense — the whole 
cost being but $1200 a year. Of this sum, nearly 
the whole is given by English gentlemen re- 
siding in Madras or its vicinity. The Church 
of England, the London and Wesleyan Socie- 
ties, as well as the Scotch churches, are engaged 
in similar labours for the idolaters of Madras. 



Sripliame, 

Not having yet visited Triplicane, a suburb 
quite near Chintadrepettah, I started on foot, 
in the evening after the sun had gone down, on 
a tour of exploration. Passing for a short dis- 
tance over the dusty red road that leads to 

* The Eev. M. Winslow, who has laboured in India since 
1819, now (1855) thirty-six years. 



TRIPLICANE. 91 



Mount St. Thome, amid the crowd of convey- 
ances that continually throng it, I turned to the 
right at the Tanna (police station) and entered 
the main street of Triplicane. There is one 
pleasant thing about these native policemen, 
and that is their love of flowers. Wherever, in 
Madras, you see a Tanna, you see a little flower- 
bed at the door, or a few pots w T ith a rose-bush 
or two, or if nothing better can be had, a crop 
of holyhocks ; and the peon will be twirling a 
flower in his hand. On either side of the 
Triplicane road stretches a continuous row of 
low houses, plastered with chunam, and roofed 
with tiles. The palace of the nabob of the 
Carnatic, a temple or two, and a few mosques 
give variety to the street, which is met by cross 
streets also closely built. The palace of the 
nabob has no beauty to boast, as it presents 
only a bare wall to passers-by, and a gate 
guarded by native soldiers of his own troop. 
They are dressed in an imitation English uni- 
form, and have a very cheap and shabby ap- 
pearance, far inferior to that of the native 
troops or sepoys of the East India Company. 
The nabob, though the descendant of the 
former rulers of the land, and always received 
by the governor with a royal salute, and honours 



92 TRIPLICATE. 



given only to crowned heads, is a mere pen- 
sioner of the Company, without authority be- 
yond his palace bounds. A previous nabob, 
then an infant, in 1802, transferred to the 
Company his rights, on condition of certain 
pensions being paid to himself and others. The 
present nabob is a contemptible creature, living 
only for senseless and sensual pleasures, having 
no ambition that goes beyond horses, wives, and 
dancing-girls ; he is nattered by his parasites, 
but honoured by none. It is probable, as it is 
to be hoped, that he is to be the last of his race. 
India will be no loser when the whole of these 
debauched lines of rajahs and nabobs have 
passed from the scene of action. 

For a long distance, the Triplicane road is a 
bazaar, each house having in front a stall-like 
shop, in which the owner sits with his goods 
before and around him. As the sun had set 
and night was drawing on, they were lit by 
earthen or brass lamps fed either with cocoanut 
or the cheaper castor oil. Here is an old woman 
with a stock of Indian substitutes for doughnuts 
and gingerbread ; there one with betel-leaf, areca- 
nut, and lime for chewers — a preparation uni- 
versally used, and which stains the mouth to a 
blood-red colour. The next shop is devoted to 



TRIPLICANE. 93 



the sale of crockery ware, and pots and pans 
are piled about the owner. Here is a man 
making and selling sweetmeats, of which the 
Hindus are very fond ; and there a money- 
changer with his bags of gold, silver, and cop- 
per. On the opposite side is a row of dry- 
goods men, each with his stock of goods in the 
ten or twelve feet square before and behind 
him. Thus the street stretches on, and this is 
a bazaar. 

In our illustration (from a painting by a 
Hindu artist) we have a representation of one 
of these little bazaar shops, which only needs to 
be continued by an indefinite number of similar 
structures, to give an idea of a bazaar. The 
salesman sits on a level with his goods, which 
are arranged before him to the best advantage, 
with his scales in hand, intent on a sale. The 
father is engaged in the arduous work of re- 
ducing the price to the lowest possible amount, 
while his son stands by in his starched linen 
cap and school dress, an interested spectator, 
as the purchase is of confectionary, a class of 
wares in great esteem with Hindu boys. 

Farther on, you come to the Triplicane 
Mosque, one of the favourite places of worship 
of the Mohammedans, who live in great num- 



94 TRIPLICATE. 



bers in this district. It is a large building, 
standing some two hundred yards from the 
street, in a spacious enclosure. Beside it is a 
neat tank for ablution. The front of the 
mosque is entirely open, and the whole interior 
plastered with lustrous milk-white chunam ; and 
being now illuminated with a multitude of 
lamps, its appearance was very beautiful. Yet, 
when the eye turns from the beauty of the edi- 
fice to the stream of men pouring in to worship 
in the name of Mohammed, the thought of a 
whitened sepulchre of souls was forced upon 
the mind. Though not idolaters, and less de- 
based by superstition, they are, as a class, as 
deeply debauched, and as deceitful, and more 
bigoted than the idolatrous Hindus. The power 
has passed from their hands, or the Christian 
missionary would not now be preaching at his 
will in the towns and villages of Hindustan. 

In my former views of Madras I had seen 
much that was new, and strange, and interest- 
ing, but it was in my walk through Triplicane 
that I was first astonished. Here I was asto- 
nished, and not astonished only, but astounded 
and oppressed ; and that not so much by the 
novelty of the scene, as by the denseness of the 
mass of immortal men that thronged its streets. 



TRIPLICATE. 95 



Never had I seen or imagined such a hive of 
human beings ; it was an unbroken tide of souls. 
Greater crowds I had seen on gala-days in 
great cities, but this was no unusual gathering ; 
it was a daily scene. When I reached a cross 
street, in which was a grain bazaar, the whole 
way was blocked up by men buying, selling, 
and conversing. Just at this moment a wed- 
ding procession was passing through the mass. 
First came musicians, furiously playing on 
tomtoms (the native drum) and horns, making 
the most horrible and ear-torturing discord with 
the greatest zeal. Then came a numerous train 
of friends, marching in no particular order; 
and after them the bridegroom on horseback, 
between two files of attendants. He was co- 
vered with gilt and finery, and supported by 
two men on the right, fanning him with silvered 
fans ; and on the left, by another bearing a sil- 
vered umbrella over his head, though it was 
night. After him came the bride in a palankeen 
covered with red cloth, and again a train of 
attendants with baskets containing gifts and 
dowery on their heads. As they slowly pressed 
their way through the crowd, it closed behind 
them like water in the wake of a receding ship. 
Looking upon the multitudes, I asked myself, 



96 TRIPLICANE. 



Whence do these people come ? Whither do 
they go ? Where do they sleep ? How are 
they clothed ? How do they live ? Nay, more, 
how do they die ? In all Triplicate I had not 
seen one white face, probably not one Chris- 
tian. All wore the distinctive dress of the 
Mohammedan, or the mark in the forehead 
that proclaimed their adhesion to some one of 
the sects of Hindu idolatry. But this is only 
one of the suburbs of Madras. Upon another 
evening I was taken to another quarter, and 
again to another and another; and again and 
again did I see similar masses of heathen men, 
swarming like ants through the thoroughfares 
of this populous city. As a Christian mis- 
sionary, my mind was overwhelmed with the 
power of this one thought of countless masses 
of men hurrying on unprepared for the awards 
of eternity. 

And yet Christians, professing to believe the 
Scriptures which declare that no idolater can 
enter the kingdom of heaven, ask, " Why go 
abroad ?" Would that such could see India or 
a mere fraction of India in its moral darkness 
and desolation ! Could they do so, they would 
sympathize with the cry for labourers to enter 
this vast harvest-field. Reader ! let the mil- 



THE SABBATH. 97 



lions of India have a place within your heart ! 
Remember their darkness and their degrada- 
tion ! Remember that they have immortal 
souls ! Remember them at the mercy-seat; and 
when you thank God that you were not born 
in a heathen land, cry to him to send the gos- 
pel to them, and ask him what you can do to 
hasten the day when the kingdoms of this world 
shall have become the kingdoms of our God 
and of his Christ. 



%\t Safttetfj at 

Oub first Sunday in India broke upon us 
with ' the bright hot sunshine of the tropics ; 
but before the sun was up we were awakened 
by the loud cawing of hordes of crows. They 
were soon followed by the scarcely less nume- 
rous and more insolent Pandarums, or religious 
beggars, who live upon the superstitious fears 
of the people. They were at this early hour 
passing up and down the rows of huts on the 
other side of the compound wall, before the in- 
mates were abroad, chaunting the praises of 
their patron gods. They accompany their 
noisy music with castanets or small tomtoms, 



THE SABBATH 



(Hindu drums,) and carry brazen pots to receive 
the gifts of the people. They are seldom en- 
tirely refused, as a handful of raw rice will dis- 
miss them to the next door, and the curses they 
invoke on those who will not pay them this 
tax are greatly feared. The perseverance, im- 
portunity, and impudence of these so-called 
holy men is such, that they are like bands of 
locusts devouring the fruits of the poor labour- 
ers. They do not ask because they are poor, 
but because this is their calling, and they con- 
fer a favour upon those from whom they receive. 
To give to them is an act of piety ; to refuse, 
of impiety. Their blessing gives riches and 
prosperity; their curse brings loss, sickness, 
and misfortune. Believing these things, the 
people will not refuse, though they may hate 
them. 

Without, were discordant noises ; within, all 
seemed still and Sabbath-like. The Christian 
may carry his Sabbath with him to India. Even 
here are some who delight to keep holy-day, 
and to meet to worship God among the heathen. 
On going at half-past eight to the school bun- 
galow, we found the higher classes of the girls' 
and boys' Tamil schools assembled as a Sun- 
day-school, and busily reciting catechisms and 



i#l ftf 




AT CHINTADREPETTAII. 99 



Scripture lessons. Our captain was with us, 
and great was bis surprise at hearing a transi- 
tion of some of the questions and answers. 
"Why," said he, "these heathen children know 
more about the Bible than I do." And indeed 
in many a school in Christian lands questions 
on Scripture truth would be far less correctly 
answered than by the Hindu boys and girls of 
the Madras schools. Going to the high school, 
we found the pupils similarly engaged. As 
they study the Scriptures in English, we each 
of us took a class of bright boys, and for the 
first time had the pleasure of commending the 
religion of Jesus Christ to these intelligent and 
engaging youth. 

At half-past nine o'clock both schools ad- 
journed to the church,* and public services com- 
menced. The building is sixty feet long and 

* Our illustration gives a fair representation of the 
Chintadrepettah church, school-house, and preaching bun- 
galow. On the right is the church; next to it the school- 
house, (the high school,) two stories in height, with Vene- 
tian doors in the first story and Venetian blinds in the 
second. The back part of the school-house is but one story 
in height, with a low roof. Beyond the school is the open 
bungaloiv for preaching on week days, so stationed as to at- 
tract persons passing along the street, who will not enter a 
church. In Burmah, such a building would be called a 
Zayat. 



100 THE MISSION CHUROH. 



thirty wide, and plainly but neatly built of 
brick, plastered within and without. The floor 
is matted, and the half of the room next to 
the door furnished with settees. These were 
filled by the youth of the high school and 
adults from the neighbourhood ; in front of 
them the floor was completely covered with 
children from the Tamil schools, the teachers 
being seated here and^ there on chairs, like 
watchmen, to preserve 'order. The native 
Christian men sat on one side of the house, and 
the mission family on the other. The native 
women who were members of the church, as 
they entered, modestly took their places on 
the matted floor, first wrapping their faces in 
their white or coloured mantles, and spending 
a few moments in prayer. 

When all was still, the services commenced 
with singing a hymn in Tamil, one of the na- 
tives leading; 'then followed prayer, reading 
the Scriptures, the sermon, and other parts of 
worship, as in our own country. Though it 
was all unintelligible to us, yet it was most 
pleasant to see so large a number gathered to 
hear the gospel in their own tongue in this 
heathen city. Nor was it less pleasant and 
interesting to hear the quick answers to ques- 



MISSION CHURCH. 101 



tions from the pulpit, showing the preacher 
that what he said was understood. Now and 
then a sleepy boy would be awaked by a rather 
loud tap on the head from his teacher, or a 
group of men from the street make audible re- 
marks; but on the whole the decorum was great, 
and the scene very pleasing to a new-comer. 

In the cities of India few adults from among 
the heathen will attend at a place of Christian 
worship. The Sabbath is not to them a day of 
rest. All are busy with their ordinary duties. 
The carpenter is at his work, the merchant at 
his shop, and the teacher in his school. While 
the missionary is preaching at Chintadrepettah, 
the creaking of the castor-oil mill across the 
street is constantly in his ears. Nor is this 
the only obstacle. The people fear that they 
will in some way be injured in their caste, or 
perhaps by some sorcery made Christians 
against their will, if they enter the church. 
Still, as they pass to and fro on their own 
business, attracted by the singing or preaching, 
they crowd around the doors and windows, and 
some venture in. They thus learn something 
about Christianity and the order of Christian 
worship. But the masses will not come to us ; 
we must go out to them. 

9* 



102 CAR-DRAWING. 



I had now seen Christian worship in Madras ; " 
and before long an opportunity occurred of 
seeing idolatry in one of its most common forms 
— that known to us as car-drawing. 

Juggernaut is a name familiar to the Chris- 
tian world. The huge car in which this " Lord 
of the world" (as his name is by interpretation) 
is drawn, the multitudes who flock to his temple 
at Cuttack, and the horrors there enacted, have 
been made familiar, to us by Buchanan and 
others. It is not so widely known that though 
this is the most famous, it is not the only scene 
of the ceremony of car-drawing. On the con- 
trary, almost every temple has its festival day, 
on which the idol-god is treated to a triumphal 
ride by its votaries. 

A car-drawing was to take place at Maila- 
pur, a suburb of the city. With a friend, I 
started for the scene of the celebration. Our 
road lay through the crowded streets. Passing 
the bazaar with its busy buyers and sellers, the 
nabob's palace and the mosque, we drove 
through a vast grave-yard — a city of the dead, 



CAR-DRAWING. 103 



with its crowded acres of Mohammedan tombs. 
Some were old and falling to decay; some, 
freshly sodded with green turf: some were 
lowly ; others, large buildings with domes and 
minarets. The inmates of all were returning 
to dust ; their spirits had gone to the judgment- 
seat of God. I could not but ask, What has 
the church of God been doing that the gospel 
was not preached to them ? 

But the living were about us. As we drew 
near the scene, troops of men and women, flow- 
ing all in one current, showed that we had not 
missed our way. Here would be a company of 
young' men with the marks of their gods painted 
fresh and bright upon their foreheads, jesting 
and laughing, and evidently well pleased with 
their white robes and jaunty turbans ; there, a 
father leading his boy by the hand, followed by 
the mother (who always walks behind, and not 
with her husband) with a babe in her arms. 
There came other groups, and now and then a 
pandarum or sunyasee (orders of religious 
mendicants) with holy ashes not merely on his 
forehead, but all over his face and person, 
striding on to the festival as the carrion-vul- 
ture speeds to his banquet. 

As we came nearer, the road was lined on 



104 CAR-DRAWING. 



both sides with rows of the most hideous de- 
formities stretched on their backs and bedaubed 
with ashes. The poor wretches added to the 
horrors of their appearance by horrible outcries 
and writhings. The blind, the maimed, the 
footless and handless leper, the hunchback, 
and the cripple lay stretched upon the ground 
begging for alms. The crowd now grew still 
more dense, for we were drawing near the 
temple. A broad street runs beside a noble 
square tank, with stone steps on every side de- 
scending to the water's edge, and below the 
water to the bottom of the tank. Many 
Brahmins were standing in the water, busy with 
their ablutions. Entering and muttering 
prayers, they took the water in their hands, 
threw it behind them, crossed themselves, and 
washed out their mouths ; then clapping their 
fingers to their nose and ears, ducking under 
the water so as to immerse the whole body, 
they washed away the impurities of both body 
and soul in the most orthodox manner. Along 
the street were temporary sheds and porticos 
erected for the festival. These were hung with 
pictures in honour of the god, who was to pass 
that way, and to be gazed at by the crowd. In 
one I saw a picture of Christ healing the sick. 



CAR-DRAWING. 105 



I longed for the ability to proclaim him as the 
only Saviour to the ignorant idolaters about 
me, but the language was yet to be learned. 
Not far off were exposed to the gaze of all, 
men, women, and children, paintings of the 
actions of their gods — pictures too vile and 
filthy to be described, shamelessly shown as 
the deeds of the beings whom they Worshipped 
as gods ! 

Turning into the street upon the opposite 
side of the tank, we found ourselves before the 
temple. Here the mass centred, and the reli- 
gious beggars and devotees were most numerous. 
Near the temple-gate sat some, wearing the 
cavi or yellow robe of their order, besmeared 
all over with ashes, and with their filthy, un- 
combed hair hanging in clotted strings to their 
shoulders. Others went through the crowd 
with wires run through their tongues or cheeks, 
mincing and dancing with a disgusting air. 
Attendants carried small brass plates for alms, 
which they thrust into the faces of the people. 
Here, too, stood the car, the centre of attrac- 
tion. It is an unwieldy structure, square and 
pyramidal, and resting upon four great solid 
wooden wheels, six feet in diameter. Above, 
it consists of several stories, growing smaller 






106 CAR-DRAWING. 



as they near the top, and ending in a large 
gilt umbrella. The whole was decorated with 
bands of coloured cloth, garlands of flowers, 
streamers, and gilding, so as to have a gay and 
imposing appearance. In front, green carved 
horses stood rearing on the platform, and blue 
elephants, with monsters and gods of every 
colour, filled up the vacant spaces. Upon the 
first story of the car was the throne of the god. 
Here, seated in state, was the senseless idol, to 
adore which the multitude had come together. 
Wrapped in costly robes, and adorned with 
jewels and flowers, it could scarcely be seen 
for its ornaments. Beside it stood Brahmin 
priests fanning the silver thing with cow-tail 
brushes, lest it should be molested by flies or 
heat. 

The firing of a small cannon announced the 
hour of starting. The Brahmins in the car 
shouted to the mob, and waving their sacred 
brushes, incited them to their work. The men, 
rushing forward, seized the great cables, each 
as thick as a man's thigh, and laid them on 
their shoulders. Arrayed in two long lines, 
they attempt to start the ponderous car. But 
it does not move. Again the Brahmins- shout 
and cry to the mob, and again the mob, answer- 



CAR-DRAWING. 107 



ing to the cry, put forth their strength ; they 
tug ; they strain ; they yell. The priests urge 
them on, and now another strain, and the 
towering pile, grating harshly on its wheels, 
moves slowly through the street. Their god 
is propitious ; he is moving on his way, and a 
cry of joy and worship goes up from the labour- 
ing and the gazing crowds. Old men, who 
cannot help, lift up their hands in homage ; 
and mothers, rushing forward, hold up their 
babes to catch a sight of the god. 

In former days, Englishmen high in station 
did honour to such scenes. They attended 
them, while their subordinates drove the people 
to the ropes, and forced them to drag the car. 
Those were happy days for the Brahmins ; but 
it is so no longer. Those times have gone, we 
trust, no more to return. The connection of 
government with idolatry has almost wholly 
ceased, and soon will be entirely severed. 
The priests and gods must take care of them- 
selves, for English Christians will no longer 
suffer them to be propped up by English in- 
fluence. 

Devotees, as is well known, were accustome^ 
to throw themselves under the wheels of the 
car to be crushed ; this is no longer permitted. 



108 CAR-DRAWING. 



The police have orders to prevent these suicides, 
and they now rarely take place. On one occa- 
sion, a pilgrim who had thrown himself down 
before the approaching car, that he might ex- 
piate his sins and gain heaven, was spied by an 
English officer. Riding up, he began to lay his 
whip upon his naked back. The devotee was 
ready for martyrdom, but the flogging he had 
not bargained for ; so, betaking himself to his 
heels, he was soon out of danger. The govern- 
ment tax, formerly paid by pilgrims at the 
shrine of Juggernaut, is not now collected. It 
is a great cause for congratulation that Eng- 
land has determined that her great name shall 
no longer give lustre and dignity to the hideous, 
cruel, and debasing idolatry of India. The 
Brahminic priesthood see in this fact one of 
the symptoms of their approaching downfall. 
Soon may it come, and Jehovah of hosts 
alone be known and worshipped as God and 
Lord of this and every land ! 

Youth of America ! scenes far different from 
these surrounded you in childhood. Influences 
far different from these were made to bear upon 
your opening minds. Lessons far different from 
these were those you first learned. Remember, 
then, that to whom much is given of them will 



HOUSEKEEPING IN MADRAS. 109 



much be required ; that for all the high favours 
you enjoy at the hand of God you must render 
an account. May your lives answer to your 
light ! 



After a two months' residence at Chinta- 
drepettah, during which we pursued the study 
of the Tamil language with a native teacher, 
Royapooram, a district three miles distant, was 
assigned to us as our station, by the mission. 
We had hitherto been guests, but this decision 
set us busily to work preparing for the new 
undertaking of housekeeping in Madras. It 
was the month of April, here one of the hottest 
months of the year ; and it proved warm work 
going from bazaar to bazaar with an interpreter, 
in pursuit of gridiron and spit, pestle and mor- 
tar for rice-pounding, stone and roller for 
grinding curry stuffs, and the numerous essen- 
tials of an Indian house. Furniture can be 
had in Madras at a reasonable rate at the 

auctions held for the sale of the effects of Eng- 
10 



110 COOKIES. 



lishmen who are returning to England, or who 
have been cut off by death. 

On the clay appointed for our removal from 
Chintadrepettah, a crowd of coolies, (hired 
labourers,) both men and women, were in wait- 
ing at an early hour, anxious to secure a job. 
These poor creatures, who live by such work as 
they can get from day to day, can always be 
had at a very short notice to go anywhere and 
do any thing, whether it be to go one mile with 
a note, or to carry a piano five hundred miles 
upon their heads. They need but a few hours 
warning for a journey that may occupy many 
weeks or even months. Part of the stipulated 
pay is given in advance for the support of their 
families and of themselves while the work is 
being done. This is necessary, for they never 
have any thing on hand ; and the trust thus 
reposed in them is rarely betrayed, although 
in most other matters they are very dishonest. 

Before seven o'clock our goods and chattels 
were all off. Four men, naked except a piece 
of cloth around their loins, mounted the book- 
case on their heads ; four more the clothes- 
press ; two seized a settee as their portion, 
while the women snatched up the chairs and 
lighter articles. Our newly-engaged matey 



ROYAPOORAM. Ill 



(house-servant) was all life, activity, and zeal, 
seeing that each cooley had a fair load, so that 
"master might not be cheated." Soon all were 
off, laughing, talking, and joking, happy to earn 
five cents each by carrying their burdens three 
miles in a broiling sun ; a sum, small though it 
be, sufficient to support a Hindu family for a 
day. Following the coolies, we took possession 
of our new home. After turning out a scor-. 
pion or two, some mammoth roaches, and a 
goodly quantity of dust, we installed our goods 
in their proper places, and entered upon the 
duties of housekeeping at our own station. 

Royapooram is the most northern suburb of 
Madras. It lies without the city wall, and upon 
the sea. Through its centre runs an English- 
made road, on each side of which are densely- 
packed masses of houses, threaded by narrow 
lanes. At the extremity of this road, and 
facing you as you pass out from the walled 
town, stands our neat little church, with a 
belfry near it, in which is hung a good church 
bell. Close by is the mission-house, in the 
centre of a compound prettily laid out with 
flower-beds. The house is one story in height, 
with a brick-paved verandah, and a flat roof 
guarded by a ballustrade. Back of the house, 



112 THE GARDEN. 



and quite separate from it, stand in a row the 
kitchen, godowns, (storehouses,) school-bunga- 
low, and stable. Although the soil is sandy, 
(for it is but a little distance from the sea,) yet, 
when well watered and cultivated, it yields 
flowers and fruits abundantly. All the year 
round the rose, the crape-myrtle, the pome- 
granate, the oleander, and other shrubs fragrant 
or beautiful, made our compound attractive and 
homelike. A few fruit-trees, the custard- 
apple, the papaw, and the banana, furnished 
additions to our table. The banana or plan- 
tain, which is well known in our Atlantic cities, 
being brought from the West Indies, is the 
fruit of a plant which, in about two years, at- 
tains a height of ten or twelve feet, when from 
amid its large, glossy, and delicate leaves, it 
throws out a long spike of flowers ; these are 
succeeded by comb-like clusters of yellow fruit. 
Then, having fulfilled its mission, as each stalk 
bears but once, it is cut down, to be succeeded 
by suckers from its root. The fruit is cheap, 
wholesome, and pleasant, and forms a staple 
article of food. The small yellow species is, 
in the East Indies, called the plantain, while 
the term banana is applied to the large red 
fruit of the same species. Though the house 




Plantain in fruit, p. 112. 



ROYAPOORAM. 113 



has a bare aspect from the want of trees, which 
are here thought to be unwholesome when too 
near the house, and though India is in some 
respects truly a weary land, yet many a less 
pleasing spot may be found than the mission 
station at Royapooram. 

Some romantic persons, looking upon mis- 
sionaries as heroes, and their work as one of 
unmingled toil and self-denial, may be sur- 
prised that they should value the beauty and 
fragrance of flowers or seek for the comforts 
of life. We have known of visitors to India 
condemning missionaries as lacking in self- 
denial on account of tm3 sweetness of the gar- 
dens with which (after many years of residence) 
their bouses were surrounded. Such persons 
mistake the aim of the missionary : it is not to 
deny himself for the sake of denying himself, 
but to be willing to deny himself for the sake 
of doing good; and to encounter whatever self- 
denial he is called to by God in his providence, 
for the sake of making Christ known among 
the heathen. It is not to degrade himself to a 
level with idolaters, and to despise the gifts of 
God, but to convert, elevate, and refine those 
who are degraded, that he leaves his home. 
Such persons, astonished that Christian mis- 



114 HOUSEKEEPING. 



sionaries do not live like the heathen, returning 
to Christian lands, spread reports often as fool- 
ish as they are false. Even our predecessor 
in Royapooram, though the very last person 
chargeable with caring for show or luxury, did 
not escape the imputation of self-indulgence. 
An American sea-captain, after dining with 
him, looking out from the verandah on the 
blooming flower-beds, exclaimed, "Ah! this is 
the way the modern St. Pauls live!" Would 
such persons be better satisfied were they to 
find the missionary seated on the floor of a 
mud hovel, and eating with his fingers from an 
earthen pot, in true Hindu style ? 

Housekeeping in India is in many respects a 
different thing from housekeeping in America. 
The activity and laboriousness habitual to 
dwellers in a temperate climate cannot be 
maintained by them when in a tropical country. 
New-comers are not commonly willing to believe 
this. Full of the vigour of their home constitu- 
tion, and with the ardour of youth, they are 
slow to believe the "old Indians." They are 
tempted to waste on matters of minor import- 
ance the strength that should be husbanded 
for work that cannot be done by others. The 
Hindu can cook, wash, iron, and run on 



SERVANTS. 115 



errands; but he cannot preach. Better pay 
five or ten cents to a coolj or servant to do a 
half or whole day's work, than exhaust your- 
self, and take from the strength that should be 
devoted to study and missionary duties. Many 
a young missionary rebels against this necessity 
of being served, and of conforming in India to 
Indian ways ; and often have they paid the 
penalty in broken health and an early death. 

More especially are you compelled to con- 
form to the customs of India in the matter of 
servants. The Hindu is immovably set in the 
way of his fathers.- He will do what it is 
"custom" for him to do, and no more. The 
matey who waits at table, cleans the knives 
and lamps and dishes, and does your shopping, 
would no more think of feeding or harnessing 
a horse than of preaching a sermon or painting 
your likeness ; and the syce (horse-keeper) 
■would, laugh at the idea of his undertaking the 
duties of the matey. The cook goes to market, 
but must have^ cooly to carry home his pur- 
chases, and a woman to bring water, pound 
rice, and make curry for him. The ayah who 
takes care of the children will not sweep the 
floor ; and the woman who brings water and 
sweeps would be horrified if asked to make a 



116 SERVANTS. 



bed or dress a babe — "What does she know 
about such duties ! She is turney-katchy, not 
ayah!" It would be like asking a horse to 
catch mice and the cat to draw a carriage. 

It will be readily understood that you must 
have several servants, or give up your time to 
household cares. The pay of servants is small, 
and they board and lodge themselves away from 
their employer's house. A cook (a man) can 
be hired for three dollars a month, (though 
more is given to an accomplished cook by Eng- 
lish gentlemen ;) and his female assistant, the 
turney-katchy, receives a dollar and a half a 
month, with which she will support a husband 
and children. The simplicity and cheapness 
of their food, and the small amount of clothing, 
fuel, and protection from weather needed in 
this climate, enable them to live on these very 
small sums. So few are their wants, and so 
great their preference of idleness to labour, 
that a whole family will depend upon one mem- 
ber for support, without troubling themselves 
to seek employment while he can give them 
rice and curry. 

The trial of Indian housekeepers does not 
consist in the lack of suitable furniture, food, 
and dress, so much as in the deceit and dis- 



DISHONESTY. 117 



honesty of the people. This is truly indescri- 
bable. You cannot take it for granted that a 
thing is true because a Hindu says that it is 
true, even though it may be probable. It may 
or it may not be so ; you need further evidence 
than his word, especially if it be a matter in 
which he has any interest. You doubt at times 
the evidence of your senses when you hear the 
clearness and vehemency with which they will 
deny what you have seen with your own eyes, 
and the earnestness with which they will call 
the gods to witness the truth of their assertion. 
But what else can we expect, when they believe 
that the gods themselves are liars and thieves? 
A nation will not be better than its gods ; the 
Hindus are not. 

The lady of the house, if she cannot afford 
to be cheated, must be constantly on the watch. 
Coffee, sugar, tea, oil, and other stores, must be 
weighed in her presence. Bundles of wood, 
grain, potatoes, salt, &c. must be measured or 
counted before her. The cow must be brought 
by the milkman to the door, his pot be turned 
upside down to show that there is no water in 
•it, and the cow be milked in the sight of some 
of the household. Every day the rice and other 
articles of food must be unlocked and measured 



118 DISHONESTY. 



out to the cook. If you buy a store of sugar, 
of coffee, or of any thing else, you must not send 
it to the godown (storehouse) by the cook alone; 
you must go with him, and then see that no- 
thing is abstracted while you are there ; some- 
thing, pretty certainly, will be, if your back is 
turned. Grain for the horse must be measured 
out to the horse-keeper in the morning, and 
when cooked must be measured before you to 
show that it is all there ; and then the horse 
must be brought to the door and fed, that you 
may know that he has had his full meal. In 
short, you must everywhere, at all times, and 
with every one, be on the alert to prevent in- 
numerable little thefts. Even servants whom 
you esteem most highly, and whom you would 
trust with large sums of money, seem to be 
unable to resist the universal custom of pilfer- 
ing. The moral sense of the whole nation is 
degraded by a hundred generations of heathen- 
ism, so as almost to destroy the reproving power 
of conscience. Their souls are dead in tres- 
passes and sins. 

One of the customs of the country is that of 
taking a percentage on every thing they buy, 
charging each article a fraction above its actual 
cost. So universal is this, that they hardly 



THE DOBEY. 119 



think it wrong. A cook in Royapooram, who 
had been a Roman Catholic, but became, I 
think, a truly Christian man, remarked that he 
had formerly been in the habit of taking four 
annas in the rupee* as a commission on his 
marketing ; but that, on consultation with his 
friends, he had come to the conclusion that this 
was wrong, and that hereafter he would only 
take one anna in the rupee ; this, he thought, 
would be about fair. 

The washing and ironing are done by two 
persons, and these not women, as with us, but 
men. The dobey (washerman) is responsible 
for the clothes, and usually receives pay for 
both operations ; but the ironing-man is com- 
monly in his company on pay-day, to see that 
the dobey does not cheat him as to the amount 
of wages received. They do their work well, 
but must be watched to see that the articles 
taken away are not kept back for their own 
benefit. They call for the clothes with poor 
little donkeys, and go off bending under great 
bundles on their own backs, driving before them 
the poor donkeys staggering under still greater 
loads, seemingly enough to crush their slender 

* There are sixteen annas in one rupee. 



120 IRONING-MAN. 



legs. The washing is done bj sousing the 
clothes in water, and beating them on large, 
smooth stones. It is certainly an alarming 
•sight to housewives to see garments swinging 
over the dobey's head and descending again 
and again with no small force on the washing- 
stone. Though the first washing is usually 
enough to greatly reduce the number of your 
buttons, and to reveal any weakness in sewing 
or in fabric, the damage is less than might be 
expected from such harsh treatment. 

Our ironing-man was quite an elegant-look- 
ing personage, always well dressed, and with 
the mark of his sect handsomely painted on his 
forehead — with his fine turban, gold ear-rings, 
white robe, and stately mien, he would have 
passed for something better. Mrs. D. was a 
little amused one day with his reply to an in- 
quiry as to h,ow many children he had. "No 
children," he replied with a doleful shrug of 
the shoulders, "no children; only three girls!" 
Girls were not to be counted as children, in the 
estimate of the Hindu, and this is the sentiment 
not of our ironing-man alone, but of the whole 
community, both male and female. 

The cares of housekeeping in India are at 
first discouraging. You seem to be spend- 



INSECTS. 121 

ing your time to no purpose. But it is not lost 
time. It is a good apprenticeship to the new- 
comer, and serves to make him acquainted with 
the modes of thought and action common among 
the people. Every question asked or order 
given to a servant or workman, and every 
answer received, is a lesson in the language. 
Every blunder made and corrected is a pre- 
paration for your work among a people so far 
removed in all their ways from us as are the 
Hindus. 

The housekeeper in India soon finds that he 
is not to enjoy his dwelling alone ; that he 
must consent to the society of many a family 
of fellow-lodgers, who do not wait for invita- 
tion or introduction, and make up in numbers 
what they lack in size. The insect tribes of 
India must not be overlooked in our chapter 
upon housekeeping. At your first meal you 
discover that whole armies of ants are hurrying 
back and forth on the floor with the crumbs 
that have fallen from the table. Nor are they 
too honest to enter the meat-safe, if its legs do 
not stand in vessels of oil or water. The mos- 
quito "netting which surrounds your bedstead 
must be well tucked under the bed, and care- 
fully lifted when you get in, or hordes of hun- 
11 



122 INSECTS. 

gry mosquitos will give you their company ; 
with all your care a select band will manage to 
find some place of entrance, and torture your 
ears with their music as well as your body with 
their bites. In the morning you must shake 
out your shoes, so as not to intrude on any stray 
centipede, roach, or scorpion that may have 
ensconced himself there for the night. In the 
evening, at certain seasons, while taking your 
tea, a swarm of winged ants will make their 
appearance ; they drop into your cup, become 
entangled in your butter, fill your plate, and 
enter your mouth ; there is nothing to be done 
but to beat a retreat, leaving the table with its 
lights to the enemy. In the morning you will 
find the table strewn with wings which the ants 
have left behind them, marching off upon more 
humble limbs. 

A small gnat, known as the eye-flu, is ex- 
ceedingly annoying, especially to children. 
They manage, notwithstanding all your efforts, 
to get into your eyes, causing much irritation. 
A very distressing ophthalmia is supposed by 
the natives to be carried from one person to 
another by these minute creatures. The cock- 
roaches which swarm in this country, though 
less trying than the eye-flies, are destructive to 



LIZARD — SCORPIOX. 128 



clothes, and compel you constantly to look over 
your drawers and trunks. 

The ants, mosquitos, and other insects are 
thinned off by active little lizards, that live 
about the furniture and pursue their prey on 
the walls and ceilings. Sometimes, when un- 
warily darting upon a mosquito or fly, the 
lizard will come dropping upon your table or 
yourself — more to his fright, however, than to 
yours, for they are harmless creatures and the 
allies of man, as they attack- his enemies of the 
insect tribe. Lizards of a larger kind inhabit 
the gardens, and a still larger species is by 
some classes eaten, and accounted a delicacy. 

The scorpion is a small creature, from three 
to five inches in length. In appearance it much 
resembles a little lobster. The smaller species 
is of a brownish-white colour, and is more 
venomous than the large black scorpion, though 
less repugnant to the eye. They are found 
under the corners of mats, in storehouses, on 
shelves, and in other unswept places. When 
disturbed, they run over the floor w T ith their 
jointed tails arched over their backs, and ready 
to strike with the hooked sting in which it ends. 
The sting is severe, but scarcely dangerous. 

A more pleasing class of visitors are the little 



124 SQUIRRELS — CROWS. 



gray squirrels that abound in Madras. These 
pretty little creatures live on the house-tops 
and in the verandah blinds, and claim a right 
to eat of all that grows upon the premises. Not 
content with injuring the fruit, they make in- 
roads upon the provisions of the house when an 
opportunity occurs. 

The croios are innumerable. They are not 
useless, for they clear the streets of garbage 
that might produce disease, but their impudence 
is quite provoking ; they perch upon the house- 
tops and trees, with their shining heads out- 
stretched, and their keen eyes on the watch, so 
that nothing can be left uncovered with safety 
that suits their very accommodating appetites. 
When a fair opportunity occurs, they dart into 
the house, (which, it must be remembered, is 
almost without closed doors or glazed windows,) 
thrust their bills into the butter, or take the 
bread from the plate. They do not hesitate to 
snatch a biscuit from a child's hand, and flying 
off, coolly to eat it on a neighbouring house-top. 

Add bats, mice, muskrats, sparrows, and 
monkeys to the list of a Madras housekeeper's 
visitors, and you will believe that some care is 
needed in housekeeping, house-cleaning, and 
house-walking. Yet the evil is greater in ap- 



WHITE AXTS. 125 



pearance than in fact. Habit soon makes these 
sights and sounds so familiar that they are 
almost unnoticed, and caution becomes so habit- 
ual that accidents are rare. Against the mi- 
nor insect tribes and other depredators you 
adopt precautions, and you think before you 
unroll a mat or thrust your hand into a dusty 
corner, and so avoid a sting. But one case of 
stinging by a scorpion occurred in our house- 
hold, and no case of injury by a serpent. 

I must not omit to notice a most formidable, 
though apparently insignificant insect, not yet 
mentioned — it is the white ant. This is a 
small, semi-transparent insect ; in appearance 
most harmless, in reality most destructive. The 
habits of the white ants are peculiar. They 
live in houses partly under the earth, but fre- 
quently built up in hills two or three feet above 
it, and pierced in every direction with halls and 
galleries. They issue from their home in long 
lines, each one carrying a load of mud ; with 
this they form a covered way about the size of 
a pipe-stem, under which they pass to and fro, 
extending their gallery. They do not cross a 
floor or climb a post except under this cover. 
In the morning you will find a line of hard 
brown clay commencing at an unseen hole in 



126 WHITE ANTS. 



the mortar floor, and extending, it may be, up 
a door to the ceiling. You break away this 
gallery, and find a troop of white ants hurrying 
back and forth, extending their road and boring 
or furrowing the door. But as soon as they 
are exposed, they run hither and thither in great 
terror, seeking for their hiding-place. If they 
cannot reach it, they are lost. The red ants 
attack them, and seizing their soft bodies with 
their nippers, after a short struggle bear them 
writhing away to their holes. The lizards, too, 
prey upon them, and fowls eat them w T ith eager- 
ness. Thus one tribe is kept in check by an- 
other, so as not to increase beyond endurance. 
The white ants frequently do much mischief 
before they are discovered. A woollen rug 
carelessly left upon the floor but a single night, 
was brought to us the next morning with a great 
slit, three feet long, cut down its middle. It was 
the kareyan had done the mischief. Coming 
up through the plaster floor, they had in one 
night furrowed the rattan-mat and spoiled the 
rug. . In the mission printing establishment 
the boxes of paper are kept upon raised frames 
which are swept under, and inspected with care. 
On opening a box, however, its contents were 
found to be completely riddled with small holes. 



WHITE ANTS. 127 



On examination, it appeared that one end of a 
piece of rope thrown on the box rested on the 
ground; along this they had advanced and 
done their destructive work. 

Many a resident in India can sympathize 
with the worthy Carmelite friar, San Barto- 
lomeo, who thus narrates his first acquaintance 
with these little intruders, when at Pondicherry : 
"I had put all my effects into a chest which stood 
in my apartment ; and being one day desirous of 
taking out a book, as soon as I opened the chest, 
I discovered in it an innumerable multitude of 
those white insects which the Tamulians call 
hareyan. When I examined the different articles 
in the chest, I, to my sorrow, found that these 
little animals had perforated my shirts in a 
thousand places, and gnawed to pieces my 
books ; my girdle, amice, and shoes fell to 
pieces as soon as I touched them. The ants 
were moving in columns each behind the other, 
and each carrying away in its mouth a fragment 
of my goods. My effects were more than half 
destroyed, but it was very fortunate for me that 
cotton goods were sold exceedingly cheap at 
Pondicherry." 

A Scotch gentleman once assured me that 
on opening an almirah (wardrobe) he found his 



128 THE LANGUAGE. 



glass tumblers cut in ridges by the white ants ; 
but as he was noted for telling wonderful stories, 
I had my doubts whether it might not be a fel- 
low to the account of the Hindu cashier, who, 
when a deficiency of some thousands of silver 
rupees was apparent in his books, charged it 
as " Destroyed by the white ants !" 



Win $roptgfc 

"Is the Hindu language difficult?" and, 
"How long does it take to learn to speak it?" 
are questions frequently addressed to the re- 
turned missionary. Such questions are founded 
on the false notion that India is a single coun- 
try, and the Hindus a single nation with a 
common language. It is as if one should ask 
whether the European language is difficult ? 
At the present day India may be looked upon 
as an empire ; for it is almost in its entire ex- 
tent subject directly or indirectly to British 
rule ; but until the present day this has not 
been the case. What we call India, or Hin- 
dustan, has never borne this name among its 
own inhabitants. It has always been composed 



THE LANGUAGE. 129 



. of a number of states, differing in language as 
well as in government, although, at times, se- 
veral of these states may have been subjected 
to a single conqueror. As on the continent of 
Europe there are various languages, with a 
more close relationship between some, as the Por- 
tuguese and the Spanish, than between others ; 
so, it should be remembered, are there in India 
various languages with greatly varying affi- 
nities. 

India proper is a vast territory, extending 
from the eighth to the thirty-fifth degree of 
north latitude, a distance of nineteen hundred 
miles ; and from the Bay of Bengal on the 
east to the Arabian Sea on the west, a distance 
of fifteen hundred miles, containing an area of 
1,250,000 square miles. In this wide range it 
embraces climates, scenery, soils, and products 
varying as greatly as do the languages of the 
nations that inhabit its different provinces. It 
will be readily understood that what is said of 
the Hindus by a writer in one part of India 
may not be true of the inhabitants of other 
portions of the country. What is said of the 
Bengalis may not be true of the inhabitants 
of Madras or Bombay, and the converse. 

All the languages of India have been affected 



130 THE LANGUAGE. 



by intercourse with conquering nations, who, 
pouring down from the north-west, have in 
successive ages made themselves masters of 
great portions of the land. In all of them 
Sanscrit, the sacred and classic language of the 
Hindus, forms a large element, but in a con- 
stantly diminishing proportion as you journey 
from the north to the south. Persian and 
Arabic also enter largely into the composition 
of the languages of the north and north-west. 

The most important languages of India may 
be briefly mentioned : 

The Hindi, and its cognate dialects, com- 
posed of Persian, Arabic, and Sanscrit, with an 
ancient Hindu tongue, is spoken by the inha- 
bitants of a great part of Northern India. In- 
cluding the several dialects, it is spoken by 
about 50,000,000 of people. 

Bengali is spoken by the 30,000,000 inha- 
bitants of the valley of the Lower Ganges, 
including Bengal, of which Calcutta is the 
metropolis. It is almost wholly Sanscrit. 

Malvratti is the language of about 10,000,000 
of the inhabitants of the Bombay presidency in 
the west. 

Oriyah, spoken in Orissa, south of Bengal, con- 
tains much Sanscrit, but less than the Bengali. 



THE LANGUAGE. 131 



South of these again is the Telinga or Telugu, 
spoken by some 8,000,00.0 of people. 

And still farther to the south is the Tamil, 
spoken by about 10,000,000. 

In the south-west we find Canarese, Malay- 
aUm, and other languages of less importance. 

It will thus be seen that India must be 
thought of as a continent rather than as a coun- 
try; and as an assemblage of nations with cer- 
tain common features in religion, manners, and 
character, rather than as a single nation. 

The tongue which we were called upon to 
master, that we might make known the way of 
life, was the Tamil, the language of the ten 
millions of souls inhabiting the country stretch- 
ing from fifty miles north of the city of Madras 
to Cape Comorin, the most southern point of 
Hindustan, and embracing the districts of 
Arcot, Tanjore, Coimbatoor, Madura, Tinne- 
velly, &c, as well as of the inhabitants of 
Northern and Eastern Ceylon. This country 
has been familiarly known as the Camatic, and 
the language, though improperly, as the Ma- 
labar. 

Tamil appears to have been the original 
language of Southern India, and was highly 
cultivated before the Brahmins introduced the 



THE LANGUAGE. 



Sanscrit language into this remote part of India. 
At present, about one-half the words are derived 
from Sanscrit roots. This has been a gain to 
the language, and an assistance to the preacher 
of the truth ; for the Sanscrit is rich in words 
expressive of such ideas as faith, repentance, 
sin, holiness, love, sorrow, joy, &c. Although a 
heathen signification is attached to such terms 
by the people from long use, so that when the 
missionary speaks of sin or holiness, they may 
understand that which he does not mean, yet 
he can by explanation and example make the 
Christian idea of these Abstract terms to grow 
around the words. Though Satan has depraved 
such words, he has not been able to destroy 
them. It is the work of the missionary, with the 
blessing of God, to restore to them their proper 
meaning, and by them to convey to the Hindus 
the commands and promises of the Bible. 

The acquisition of an Oriental tongue is 
no light task. In the study of French, Ger- 
man, or Spanish, we enter upon languages very 
closely related to our own. But the languages 
of India have very little in common with Eng- 
lish. It requires an inversion of all former 
modes of speech, pronunciation, and even of 
thought. If you would speak in a Tamil chan- 



THE LANGUAGE. 133 



nel, you must also think in a Tamil channel. 
The young missionary must at once plunge in, 
not resolving never to speak till he can speak 
well — like the simpleton who would not enter 
the water until he could swim — or he never will 
speak at all. He must be willing to make mis- 
takes, to be corrected, and, if needs be, laughed 
at, and told, as the writer has been more than 
once, " You had better learn our language be- 
fore you come to preach to us." He must get 
new words every day, and use them as fast as 
he gets them ; and he will find, month by month, 
that it becomes less a task and more a pleasure 
to make known to these poor dying heathen in 
their own tongue the way of forgiveness and 
everlasting life. An interpreter is a miserable 
substitute for your own tongue, and, to most- 
men, a damper to all enthusiasm. To speak to 
a strange people in their own language warms 
and delights the speaker, while it pleases, con- 
ciliates, and attracts the hearers. Five words 
of love from your own lips are worth fifty from 
those of an interpreter. 

The Tamil language has a highly-wrought 
grammar, is refined and accurate, and possesses 
a literature which it would take a lifetime to 

read. Though difficult of acquisition, it is 
12 



134 - THE VERANDAH SCHOOL. 



agreeable when acquired, and gives scope for 
eloquence and pathos in speaking or in prayer. 
The missionary who speaks it with ease and 
propriety will always command a crowd of at- 
tentive hearers. There are grammars, dictiona- 
ries, and other helps now ready for the student ; 
all that is wanting is the response to the cry 
for preachers in this tongue — "Lord ! here am 
I; send me !" 



A missionary in India, at the present day, 
need not wait until he has fully mastered the 
language of the people, before commencing his 
labours. In almost any mission station, while 
engaged in study and preparation for future 
increased usefulness, he may, in the distribu- 
tion of tracts, in schools, and in other ways, to 
a limited degree, make Christ known to the 
people. To some persons this fact has proved 
a snare. In their haste to enter upon immediate 
efforts to do good, they have neglected a proper 
devotion to the study of the language, the 
foundation of the missionary's chief work, the 
preaching of the gospel. A moderate amount 



THE VERANDAH SCHOOL. 135 



of such engagements, however, rather aid than 
injure his progress in this respect, by leading 
. him to hear and use the language, while they 
relieve the weariness of continual study. 

Upon taking charge of the Royapooram sta- 
tion, we found a small day-school for girls 
taught on the mission premises, and two boys' 
schools in neighbouring and populous parts of 
the city. In the care of these schools we found 
something to do at once, and, in our desire to 
instil the all-important truths of the gospel into 
the tender minds of the pupils, a stimulus to 
increased efforts to acquire the Tamil language. 
Our girls' school, to which the name of " Ve- 
randah school" was given from its being held 
on the portico of our house, was under the care 
of the missionary's wife. Though an humble 
and unpretending agency by which to benefit 
this heathen people, such schools must not be 
overlooked. They are one of the means by 
which the Hindus are to be raised from their 
degradation. The females are thus reached and 
influenced by the female missionary, when they 
could not be reached by the minister of the 
gospel. 

Any one entering the house between the 
hours of eight in the morning and two, if he 



136 THE VERANDAH SCHOOL. 



did not see, would certainly hear the group of 
girls, some thirty in number, that occupied one 
end of the brick-paved verandah. All, whether 
seated on the floor, or standing to recite, use 
their lungs most faithfully, and almost without 
cessation. The little ones, five or six years 
old, dressed simply in a skirt of calico reaching 
to the ankles, with their jet-black hair neatly 
combed, sit tailor-wise on the floor, with white 
sand from the beach spread on the bricks before 
them. One of their number sits opposite to 
them, and with her fore-finger writes a letter 
of the Tamil alphabet in the sand, at the same 
time singing out its name in a loud monotonous 
chaunt. The class then take up the sound and 
repeat it, as they write with their fingers the 
same letter in the sand. The monitor, with 
the palm of her hand, rubs the letter out, and 
smoothing the sand, writes the next letter, call- 
ing out its name. The class follow, and so the 
lesson goes on, the girls keeping time with their 
voices while they form the letters with their 
fingers, thus learning to read and write at once. 
Hour after hour, the sound of 

Ana, ana, a-a-a-n-a; ana, ana, (short a,) 
A-vena, avena; a-a-a-vena, avena, (long a,) 
Ee-jia, ee-na; ee-ee-na, ee-na, (short z,) 



VERANDAH SCHOOL. 137 



and so on with the other letters of the alphabet, 
comes ringing in your ears, mingled with the 
voices of the spelling-class, and those of the 
readers, until you wonder what these little 
throats are made of, that they do not wear out 
with the constant strain. 

The teacher sits cross-legged before the girls, 
giving the most of his attention to the upper 
classes, and appointing the more forward of 
these to hear the little ones. The studies in 
schools of this grade are to a very great degree 
religious — much more so than in any schools in 
America. The pupils read and study Scripture 
catechisms, the Gospels, Psalms, Scripture his- 
tory, and hymns, with arithmetic, a little geo- 
graphy, and sewing. 

Among the Hindus, learning is not a female 
accomplishment. "Why should women read," 
say they ? " They can boil rice, make curry, 
and take care of the house without reading. 
Moreover, if you give them learning, it will 
make them proud and wicked ; they will not be 
obedient to their husbands, and we shall have 
no peace at home." When we point to females 
from Christian lands, and show them their su- 
periority to Hindu women, they reply that 
learning may answer for white women, but it 



138 VERANDAH SCHOOL. 



does not for their wives. Poor creatures ! de- 
graded they now are truly, and degraded they 
must be while kept in ignorance, and treated 
only as if made for the pleasure and service of 
man. They will not have self-respect, while 
even their own sons are taught to revile and 
disobey them ; and they cannot have that deli- 
cacy of sentiment, refinement, and gentleness 
so characteristic of the Christian female, while 
treated as drudges, both by husbands and sons. 
The power of Christianity alone can raise them 
from their degradation. It is the privilege of 
the Christian female in heathen lands to gather 
into Christian schools the young of her own sex, 
who could not be reached by the missionary if 
alone, and to infuse into their tender hearts 
the elevating, purifying, and refining principles 
of the gospel. 

The boarding-school, which removes the child 
from the influence of heathen friends for a series 
of years, and places her constantly under the 
influence of the Christian teacher, affords the 
most favourable opportunity for training girls 
to ways of piety. But this involves a necessity 
of expense, accommodation, and teaching which 
cannot be incurred at every station. Yet, the 
day-school, though an humble, is not a useless, 



VERANDAH SCHOOL. 139 



effort to benefit the women of India. Certainly, 
no Christian could look without pleasure upon 
the group of girls daily collected upon the 
verandah at Royapooram. Gathered from the 
houses of the poor, and stimulated to cleanli- 
ness and neatness by little rewards, their ap- 
pearance formed a pleasing contrast to that of 
the girls of the same class met in the streets. 
In their faces, too, there was a brightness, 
vivacity, and refinement that showed the bless- 
ing of God upon the teachings, conversation, 
and prayer of a Christian woman. On the 
Sabbath, the higher classes of girls, dressed in 
clean skirts and jackets, and a light white robe 
thrown over one shoulder and wound around the 
waist, with their glossy black hair neatly turned 
up and filled with flowers, formed a most atten- 
tive and intelligent part of the missionary's 
audience. 

It is a matter of great regret that these girls 
are taken from school usually before they are 
twelve years old, and often are no more heard 
of by their teachers, as they are married at 
about this age. Yet the seed sown will not 
wholly perish ; though we see not the fruit in 
them, it may appear in their children. We 
cannot doubt that God will use the truth thus 



140 VERANDAH SCHOOL. 



sown in the tender heart of childhood, and bless 
it to them and to others. 

We know not how many of these little ones 
enter the kingdom of heaven. In many in- 
stances they give good evidence of a simple 
faith in Christ. In the school just described, 
a pleasing instance of this occurred. Two 
daughters of a poor woman living in a mud- 
walled hut near us were regular attendants at 
the verandah school. One of them, Sevaley by 
name, had been noticed by Mrs. D. as very 
constant in her attendance, and uncommonly 
gentle and mild in her demeanour. Unlike 
many Hindu girls, she was retiring and modest. 
When unkindly treated, instead of the vulgar 
abuse and revilings common among them, her 
answer was sorrow and tears. One day, while 
we were at dinner, little Sevaley came to us, 
leading a blind beggar by the hand. When we 
asked her what she wanted, with infantile sim- 
plicity, she put one finger on each eye, and 
said, "Pitchey-k'aren eiyah ! erey pitchey-haren 
eiyah! (a beggar, sir! a poor beggar, sir!") 
and looked at us imploringly, but without ask- 
ing us to give any thing to him. He had come 
to her mother's house for alms ; but as they 
were too poor to help her, Sevaley had brought 



LITTLE SEVALEY. 141 



him to us. She went away with a light heart, 
leading him by the hand, delighted at finding 
her hopes realized. 

We were naturally interested in the little 
girl, and when she was absent from school for 
several days through sickness, we went to see 
her. We found the family living in a street 
near us, in a little hovel with mud-walls and a 
thatched roof of palm-leaves. Her father was 
out of employment, and her mother, a coarse, 
complaining woman, showed us the handful of 
rice she had received for a day's labour. Se- 
valey came out of the house, looking thin and 
weak, but greatly pleased to see the minister 
and the lady. After some conversation, we 
left the mother, promising to aid them. We 
sent Sevaley little comforts from time to time 
by the catechist, (native preacher,) who said 
that "she spoke very well." 

Returning one morning from the examination 
of a boys' school, I found little Sevaley lying 
upon a mat that had been spread for her on 
our verandah, with Mrs. D. seated beside her 
making her a jacket. She was now much 
swollen with dropsy, and very weak ; she also 
coughed very badly. When asked whether she 



142 LITTLE SEVALEY. 



read at home, and what, she answered that she 
did; that she read "Matthew, and Psalms, and 
Scripture history, and ' Spiritual Milk.' " She 
told us too, with much simplicity, that when 
sick at home she loved Christ, and often thought 
of him ; that she was going to die, but was not 
afraid, because Christ died for her. Plow as- 
tonishing to us, the thought that this poor dis- 
eased child, now pining away, almost destitute 
of food and clothing, in a miserable hut on the 
shores of heathen India, might soon be casting 
a crown of gold at the feet of her Saviour God 
in the kingdom of glory ! 

It was but a few days after this that her 
mother came to ask us for money to bury her 
daughter. Little Sevaley was dead. Released 
from sin, sorrow, and suffering, she had gone, 
we trust, to that world where the inhabitant 
shall no more say, I am sick. Females of 
America ! it is not in vain that Christian 
women dwell among the heathen ! Remember 
your happy lot, and do what you can for the 
daughters of sin and sorrow in other lands. 
And, youthful reader, let me ask you, will this 
little child in the judgment rise up as a witness 
against you, and ask, Why you, in this Chris- 



SANJUVARAYAN-PETTAH. 143 



tian land, never forsook your sins and gave 
your heart to Gfod? Unto whom much is 
given, of them will much be required. 



One of my most common walks, while at 
Royapooram, was to the boys' Tamil day-school 
at Sanjuvarayan-pettah, a suburb at some dis- 
tance from the mission-house. An appointment 
having been made over night with the native 
preacher, before sunrise he was at the house 
ready to accompany me. Our start needed to 
be an early one, for a late return in the hot sun 
would be dangerous to health. The catechist, 
dressed in a long, close-fitting white robe and 
white muslin turban, carried in his hands a 
good supply of tracts, while the missionary 
bore, in addition to his books, a stout doubly- 
lined umbrella as a protection from the glare 
of the sun during the return walk. Leaving 
the well-made street of Royapooram, we struck 
off to the west along a sandy road. The Mo- 
hammedan families living here stared at the 
missionary most perseveringly, while the boys 



144 SANJUVARAYAN-PETTAH. 



cried "Padre! Padre!"* after us. At the 
corner of this road, by the side of a small na- 
tive house, a slowly-burning rope-match hung 
from a tree ; this showed the piety of the house- 
holder, who was laying up treasure in heaven by 
his benevolence on earth in furnishing a light 
for segar-smokers ! One and another would 
come up, perhaps making his cheroot (a Tamil 
word, meaning a roll) as he walked, from the 
tobacco-leaf in his hand, stop, light his segar 
with all the gravity of a philosopher, and go 
puffing on his way. 

We did not stop, having a different use for 
our mouths; but making another turn, passed a 
vegetable garden. Among its beds of spinage, 
beans, and egg-plants, stood little posts crowned 
with earthen pots, painted with white and black 
stripes. These were to protect the crop, not 
against thieves, but against devils and the evil 
eye. It is a popular belief that if malicious 
persons cast an "evil eye" on their fields, in 
some mysterious way the crop will be destroyed. 
These pots are stationed prominently among 
the vegetables, that such noxious glances might 

* Padre, meaning father, is a term first borrowed from 
the Portuguese, and applied to priests — now to all European 
and American clergymen. 



THE EVIL EYE. 145 



first fall upon them, and no damage come to the 
harvest. They are also esteemed highly effica- 
cious in keeping off the demons, of whom the 
Hindus stand in constant dread. 

It is not their crops alone, but life and health 
also are supposed to be in danger of misfortune 
from the glance of evil eyes. They are espe- 
cially careful to guard their new-born children 
from such a misfortune. For this purpose a 
lamp is made from a paste of rice-flour, filled 
with oil, and lit. It is then waved in circles 
before the babe, and placed by its side. Visitors 
will naturally first look at the lamp ; and the 
harm which might result, as they in their super- 
stitious fear suppose, from the glance of sor- 
cerors or evil-disposed persons, will be averted. 
This is but one of a thousand imaginary dan- 
gers of which the heathen inhabitants of India 
stand in constant dread. 

But, having passed through a grove of cocoa- 
nut-trees, under which were the huts of poor 
toddy-drawers from the south, we now entered 
the street of Sanjuvarayan-pettah. The peon 
who stood at the police station, making a low 
salaam, asked for a book. One was given him, 
and after a little conversation, we passed on. 
The women stopped their brooms and tongues 



146 SANJUVARAYAN-PETTAH. 



to have a good look at the padre as we passed; 
and the monkeys grinned at us from the walls. 
Even the dogs knew that we were entering a 
territory to which we had no right, and barked 
at the white intruder. The boys, early as it 
was, were at their books in the heathen school, 
and the dye-men were stirring their pots, and 
fishing up from the blue indigo long pieces of 
cotton cloth. The bazaar-men were opening 
their stalls, and in one a shrivelled old man 
was showing his charity by breaking a rice cake 
into morsels and throwing them to the crows. 
This is esteemed a most meritorious act, and 
highly pleasing to the gods. It certainly was 
to the crows, who clustered around with loud 
caws, and caught the fragments in their bills 
before they reached the ground. 

But here we are at the school : a boy has 
caught sight of us, and announced the approach 
of the missionary. The news produces a won- 
derful state of studiousness in the boys and 
earnestness in the teacher. The pupils roar 
out their lessons so as to be heard through all 
the neighbourhood, and the master is too busy 
to see us until we are within the door of the 
school-room. Instantly he commands silence, 
makes a profound salaam, and gives an account 




Writing on palm leaf, a palm leaf book, and a Hindoo letter written 
on the palm leaf, p. 147. 



THE SCHOOL. 147 



of his school ; the boys who are out are called 
in, and reasons given for the absence of others. 

The classes are now called up and examined. 
The little ones spell and repeat their catechism, 
and the older classes answer to questions in 
Bible history, read, and recite from the higher 
Tamil school-books, that we may know whether 
they have been properly instructed. It is the 
custom to hold the teacher responsible, and to 
pay him in proportion to the amount taught 
the boys. The little fellows, when reciting, 
stand up in rows, with their arms crossed upon 
their naked breasts, for a cloth around their 
middle is their only dress ; their heads are 
shaved except a little tuft upon the crown, 
which is suffered to grow long, and is a mark 
of Hindu nationality. 

The more advanced pupils use books printed 
by the mission or the tract society; and the 
little ones have the sanded floor for primer and 
copy-book, writing, as in the girls' school, with 
their fore-finger, and reading as they write. 
They still, however, in many lessons, adhere to 
the Hindu custom of writing with an iron style 
or graver upon strips of palm-leaf, as in the 
days when Alexander the Great invaded India. 
The leaf of the palmyra-palm is cut into pieces 



148 WRITING — THE OLLA. 



a foot or two in length, and an inch or more in 
width. They hold this firmly between the 
thumb and fingers of the left hand, and taking 
the sharp-pointed style in the right hand, rest 
it against the thumb nail of the left, which is 
notched for this purpose ; and thus guiding it, 
cut the letters into the surface of the olla or 
palm-leaf. The writing is then made more 
plain by having powdered charcoal rubbed into 
the leaf. 

By practice, they become so skilful that you 
may see men writing thus on the olla as they 
walk along the streets. In church they take 
notes of the sermon, and in business draw up 
accounts in this way, both neatly and rapidly. 

A book is made by cutting a number of ollas 
to an even length and breadth, and fitting two 
pieces of thin board to them ; it is bound by a 
string passing through a round hole in the 
boards and ollas, and wound around the whole. 
The covers are often carved and ornamented in 
accordance with Hindu notions of beauty. By 
loosening the string, the leaves may be sepa- 
rated, and the book read. When not needed, 
it is tied up and laid away. 

The boys in this, and other schools taught 
only in Tamil, are generally of the poorer 



SANJUVARAYAN-PETTAH. ' 149 



classes ; for it is only the desire for acquiring 
English that will induce those of wealth and 
rank to attend a Christian school and mingle 
with boys of inferior caste. Yet we are glad 
to bring the poor as well as the rich under the 
influence of the gospel ; and although such 
schools are defective in many respects, they 
are better than nothing at all. The boys study 
the Scriptures and Scripture catechisms, attend 
church on Sunday, and come to the missionary 
station monthly, or oftener, to be examined. 
They thus acquire a knowledge of Christianity, 
and are prepared to understand the preaching 
of the gospel, as it cannot be understood by 
one who has been nurtured in complete hea- 
thenism. Moreover, we thus get a foothold in 
the centre of populous heathen districts. We 
hire the house, and pay the teacher ; hence, all 
feel that it is our school. We go there when 
we please, and the people seldom complain, for 
it is now the "Padre's school." Thus the school 
becomes a point for preaching, without greatly 
alarming the prejudices of the people; and the 
whole cost will only be about five dollars a 
month, the pay of the teacher included. Im- 
perfect as is the teaching, we feel very sure 
that could our Christian friends on a Sabbath 

13* 



150 SANJUVARAYAjX t -PETTAH. 



clay enter the mission church, and see the rows 
of boys seated on the matted floor, and from 
the pulpit look down upon their upturned faces, 
they would feel as did our Saviour when he 
said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, 
and forbid them not." We cannot believe that 
the seed thus sown in tender soil will all be 
lost. 

The school-house at Sanjuvarayan-pettah is 
a single room with plastered brick walls, tiled 
roof, and earthen floor. It stands immediately 
on the street, and so answers well as a place for 
preaching during the day. Formerly evening 
services were held here by the missionary at 
the station, and the attendance was very large. 
Just opposite to the school, however, stands a 
heathen temple. As will be supposed, it was 
far from agreeable to the priests that hearers 
should be flocking into the little school-house to 
learn that idols were vanity, and idolatry sin. 
They therefore managed to have special services 
when the missionary preached, and made so 
hideous a noise with trumpets, drums, and 
cymbals, that not a word could be heard. I 
frequently addressed the people here by day, 
but was never troubled by the keepers of the 
temple. The wonder is, not that they oppose 



VAXARA-PETTAH. 151 



us so much, but that they should submit so 
readily to the intrusion of Christians into their 
strongholds. 

Leaving this pettah, (district,) we turned our 
steps toward Vanara-pettah, or Washerman- 
town, probably so named from having been first 
settled by that caste. Now, it is a large, popu- 
lous, and intensely heathen district. In one 
portion of it the old trade is still briskly plied. 
A number of wells have been dug, and these 
are all day long surrounded by groups of wash- 
ermen hard at work. Dipping the various 
garments in their waterpots, they swing them 
above their heads, and bring them down on the 
washing-stones with a force and rapidity that 
keeps up a perpetual succession of reports, 
rivalling a discharge of musketry. Threading 
the streets, we passed long trains of foot-pas- 
sengers, engaged in the various callings of life — 
some busy, some lazy, some noisy, some quiet ; 
but alas ! all heathen, all going in one way, all 
living without God and without Christ. It is 
a sight to call forth compassion, to make the 
heart bleed. The harvest truly is plenteous, 
and the labourers are few ! But while you 
pity the mass, you cannot but feel a measure 
of indignation at the disgusting tyranny and 



152 MENDICANTS. 



insolence of the religious mendicants who de- 
ceive and oppress them. I cannot forget the 
look of sensual hardihood and brazen impudence 
of a Vishnuvite whom we met in this walk. He 
wore the usual robe of his order, and a showy 
turban. In one hand he bore a fan, in another 
a bright brass vessel for alms ; around his neck 
was a rosary of beads. The mark of Vishnu, 
a stripe of yellow between two of white paint, 
was painted conspicuously on his forehead. 
And, not only on his forehead, but on his arms, 
throat, chest, fan, and pot also, was this emblem 
of his god vain-gloriously displayed. As he 
passed the houses, he sang from the purannas 
(holy books) the praises of Vishnu in a loud, 
insolent tone; nor would he go from one to 
another until something had been contributed 
by its inhabitants. We spoke to him ; but our 
words only excited the most contemptuous and 
scornful derision. " What was religion to him ! 
what did he care for heaven or hell ! He filled 
his belly, and that was enough for him !" and 
again he commenced his Vishnuvite hymns. 
Miserable creature ! for such there is little hope. 
Of a truth, "Their God is their belly !" 

But let us enter the dingy room on our left ; 
we shall see a more pleasant sight : it is our 



VANAPA-PETTAH. 153 



Vanara-pettah school. A group of boys are 
conning their lessons. The monitor is writing 
on an olla-leaf, with his iron style, a lesson for 
a class. The teacher appears from behind one 
of the wooden posts which support the roof, and 
making a low salaam, inquires with oriental 
politeness after the health of "his reverence" 
and family. The examination of the classes 
was not satisfactory, and led us to think that 
Jair had left the school to the teaching of the 
monitor, while he was engaged in money-making 
elsewhere; but excuses abounded, as they always 
do in the mouth of a Hindu, and a good reason 
was given for every deficiency. A stranger 
would have noticed that one boy had his feet 
fastened by an iron chain to his waist. He had 
run away from home and played truant, and 
now his father had padlocked his feet to keep 
him at home ; this is a common punishment. 
Another little fellow has his hair matted in 
long filthy locks all over his head. Why is he 
not shaved like the rest ? His parents have 
made a vow to present his hair as an offering to 
the god at Tirupathy, and hence it is not cut 
or combed. At the next annual festival he will 
ask for leave of absence, to go and present his 
locks to the god in his temple. 



154 ROMAN CATHOLICISM 



We had yet another use for our school. The 
highest class was arranged near the open door 
for examination. Standing on the Piol (por- 
tico) outside, we questioned them in a catechism 
called "The Spiritual Lamp." This, as was 
intended, soon attracted a crowd of listeners 
around the door. By question and answer the 
boys were made to preach the great truths of 
Christianity to them, until, at a favourable 
point, the discourse was turned from the boys 
to the assembled group of men, and the worth 
of the soul and the way of salvation declared 
to them. Thus, through the school, the truth 
finds an entrance into the minds of those who 
would never come near a mission church, and 
that not in an obtrusive way. 



At the close of a warm day in July, our at- 
tention was arrested by an illumination which 
lit up the sky at a short distance from our 
Royapooram residence. Flashes of brilliant 
flame shot up from torches and rockets, and 
other fireworks threw glittering globes into the 



IN MADRAS. 155 



air with loud explosions. From the clangor 
of the Hindu music which accompanied the ex- 
plosion of fireworks, I at first took it to be a 
heathen wedding procession. The merry ring- 
ing of the bells of the Roman Catholic church, 
some five minutes' walk distant, chiming in, led 
me' to ask myself whether this could be a Chris- 
tian ceremony on the Christian Sabbath ? Hav- 
ing seen but little of the practices of the Romish 
Church, I was slow to believe it, and yet these 
sights and sounds evidently came from the com- 
pound of the Catholic church. To satisfy my- 
self, I walked to the church. It is a large, 
substantial edifice, standing in the centre of an 
enclosure of some fifteen acres, with a belfry 
close' by well supplied with large bells. As I 
drew near, the music became more noisy, and 
the light more brilliant ; and when the gate of 
the outer wall was reached, all doubt as to the 
scene of these sights and sounds was dispelled. 
It was a religious service of the church which 
proclaims itself in India, as well as in other 
lands, the only true church of Christ, the only 
channel of salvation. 

Entering the gate, I found myself in a throng 
of Roman Catholics, Mohammedans, and hea- 
then, who were gazing at the passing procession. 



156 ROMAN CATHOLICISM 



First came a band of native musicians, making 
horrible discord with tomtoms, (Hindu drums,) 
pipes, and other instruments ; next a wooden 
figure, two feet in height, with wings, borne on 
mens' shoulders, — this represented an angel, 
and was preceded and accompanied by flaming 
Roman candles ; — next came- a canopy glittering 
with tinsel, glass, and gilding containing a male 
image of the same size, (the common size of the 
idols borne about in their processions by the 
heathen of India,) but this was not Krishna 
or Ganesha — it was St. Peter. This canopy, 
which was also borne on mens' shoulders, was 
modelled precisely after those on which the 
idols of India are paraded by the Hindus. Next 
came the great centre of attraction, a pyramidal 
structure with a female image, adorned, accord- 
ing to Hindu ideas, with great splendour : this 
was Mary, the mother of Christ. Two men 
with fans attended, one on either side, waving 
their fans to cool the idol, as it advanced amid 
the glitter, hiss, and flash of fireworks ; and im- 
mediately after it walked a European priest, 
chanting prayers to the saints. With him fol- 
lowed a choir of young men with violins, and 
boys singing over and over again, "Ora pro 
nobis" (pray for us,) adding each time the name 



IN MADRAS. 157 



of a different saint. Thus they made the circuit 
of the grounds and advanced to the church, 
when, with a burst of glittering wheels and fire- 
balls, the saints turned off, while the priest and 
the multitude, entering the church, fell clown 
before a female image clothed in red, and bear- 
ing an infant in her arms. 

My heart sank within me and my soul turned 
sick at the thought that this gross idolatry, 
differing in nothing but in title from the idolatry 
of the heathen around us, was done in the name 
of Christ ; and that for three hundred years this 
had been set before the Hindus as the religion 
of Jesus Christ and of that God who has said, 
" Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in 
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, 
or that is in the water under the earth : thou 
shalt not bow doivn thyself unto them nor serve 
them ; for I, Jehovah thy God, am a jealous 
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
the children, unto the third and fourth genera- 
tion of them that hate me, and showing mercy 
unto thousands of them that love me and keep 
my commandments."* 

* The writer would gladly pass by these sad and 
painful facts. But he would be false to his duty to truth 



158 SOMAN CATHOLICISM 



A few weeks after this, my attention was 
called to the church by the erection of lofty 
canopies or sheds, supported each by four posts 
wound around with white and coloured cotton- 
cloth, placed in the streets which adjoin the 
church-compound. The flag of St. Anthony 
was unfurled from a high flag-staff; and at sun- 
down, the noise of music and the reports of 
firearms announced the commencement of the 
services. At eight o'clock, I walked to the 
church, and found the workmen still busily at 
work upon the canopies erected in the street. 
The ceilings and pillars were wrapped in cloth, 
and from them hung lanterns, moons, stars, and 
angels, while the ground was strewed with 
flowers. The church was brilliantly illuminated 
with lamps, and the' altars glittered with wax 
candles. On the floor many natives and East 
Indians were bowed before an image placed at 
the opposite end of the building ; it was a full- 
length representation of our Saviour upon the 
cross ; the blood was represented as streaming 
from his head upon his breast, and trickling 

and religion, did he not bear witness against the fearful and 
degrading idolatry in India of that church, by which Chris- 
tianity is misrepresented before the heathen, and multi- 
tudes deceived to their eternal ruin. 



IN MADRAS. 159 



from his hands and feet. On each side stood a 
tall female figure clothed in black, in an atti- 
tude of wo. As the words of the second com- 
mandment involuntarily flashed across my 
mind, two church officials bowed before this 
graven image and passed on. Near the door 
was stationed a band with drums and fifes, and 
farther off natives were beating their tomtoms. 
At the other extremity of the compound, a 
crowd was assembled before the residence of 
the priests. They were preparing for the pro- 
cession, overlooked by two European priests 
who stood in the verandah of the house. Seve- 
ral images, brilliantly but tawdrily decorated, 
were placed upon pyramidal forms. The most 
conspicuous was the figure of a monk, holding 
a book in his left hand, on which a child was 
seated. The platform on which he was placed 
and the umbrella over his head were completely 
covered with flowers. A native woman was 
explaining the figures to a man, whether hea- 
then or Christian I know not. I asked her who 
the images were. "This," she replied, point- 
ing to the monk, "is San Antonio, and the one 
in his hand is the Lord. Yes, that very one is 
the Lord." Upon this the man made a wor- 
shipful obeisance. On being asked why the 



160 ROMAN CATHOLICISM 



festival was kept, the old woman told us that 
the cholera was among them, but that if these 
images were taken outside and carried round 
the church, the cholera would go away, and all 
w x ould get well. Two intelligent heathen lads, 
standing by, asked me what god this was. On 
my replying that it was no god, but an idol, 
that this was not Christianity, for our Scrip- 
tures commanded us to make no graven images — 
the older of the lads said to me in English, 
"Do not speak so! Many evil men flock to 
this place. Do not speak so in this place !" 
But now, with the noise, confusion, and wrang- 
ling seen in every Hindu crowd, where every- 
body directs everybody else, the images were 
raised on the bearers' shoulders, and moved off 
in procession. It was much as in the former 
case — fireworks, music, the angel, Peter, the 
Virgin Mary, closing with the chief actor, St. 
Anthony, followed by crosses and banners, the 
priests and choir-singers. 

Scarcely a month or week passed without 
some such idolatrous scenes being enacted in 
the Romish church of Royapooram, under the 
eye and with the countenance of European 
priests. The identity of their practices with 
those of the heathen is so complete, that we 



IN MADRAS. 161 



felt no hesitation in telling thein that they dif- 
fered very little from the heathen around them. 
The fact is so palpable, that it cannot be de- 
nied ; nor do I remember to have seen a Roman 
Catholic at all resent the charge. They have 
answered, "We do not worship the image, but 
the person represented by the image ;" " But," 
say the heathen, "neither do we: we are not 
fools, to pray to a stone." They sometimes 
attack us as heretics, when preaching to the 
heathen; but the reading of the second com- 
mandment (especially from the Latin vulgate) 
to the audience is sufficient to overthrow their 
claim to the assumed title of " Sattya-veda- 
karer" or true Bible men. 

The difference between the Roman Catholics 
and the heathen Hindus is so small, that both 
are alike considered idolaters by the Moham- 
medans ; while many Hindus, knowing no other 
Christianity than this, look upon all Christians 
as worshippers of wood and stone. They see 
but little difference between their own worship 
and that of Roman Catholics, except the change 
of names in the objects of worship. Hinduism 
finds almost a full reflection of its own customs 
in the religious observances, rites, and ceremo- 
nies of the members of the Roman Catholic 



162 ROMAN CATHOLICISM 



church who live beside them. Have the heathen 
lamps burning before their images, with the 
ringing of bells and wavings of censers*? so 
have they. Have the heathen their holy places, 
their pilgrimages, their miracle-working shrines ? 
so have they. Have the heathen their proces- 
sions, images, music, fireworks, fans, holidays ? 
so have they. Have the heathen hosts of in- 
ferior gods ? the Roman Catholics have their 
saints. And as in Hinduism inferior deities 
have crowded out the worship of the Supreme 
Being, so in Roman Catholicism the Virgin 
and the saints have eclipsed the only true God 
and the only Mediator, Jesus Christ. When 
crossing the surf in a Massulah boat one day, 
a Roman Catholic asked me, " which we ought 
to worship, the Father or the mother?" add- 
ing, "We worship the mother." 

In a little work on the " Identity of Hea- 
thenism and Popery," by a Hindu Christian, 
the close relationship of the two systems in one 
respect is illustrated by the following story : 
"In a certain town, a Hindu and a Roman Ca- 
tholic, getting into a dispute, began to revile 
each the other's gods. The abuse ran high on 
both sides; and upon the Hindu's sneering at 
the other's St. Anthony as being only a tamby, 



IX MADRAS. 163 



or younger brother, of his god Ganesha, the 
exasperated Catholic commenced more forcible 
arguments, and the debate turned into a fight. 
They were carried before a magistrate, who, 
hearing the story of the Catholic, demanded of 
the Hindu why he had thus insulted the Catho- 
lic saint. In his defence, he replied, that on a 
certain occasion the Hindus, wishing a new 
image of their god, had gone to the carpenter 
to contract with him for the job. Finding that 
he had a fine solid piece of timber, they engaged 
him to make them an image from it. Shortly 
after, the Roman Catholics, wishing a new image 
of St. Anthony, went to the same artificer and 
made similar inquiries. Thereupon, the carpen- 
ter brought out the remaining half of the same 
log for their inspection, and, as it was satisfac- 
tory, carved for them from it a new St. Anthony ; 
'And now,' concluded the defendant, 'will not 
your highness admit that I was right in saying 
that their god was younger brother to our god 
Ganesha?' " 

For a Hindu to become a Roman Catholic 
involves no great change. He may keep his 
worship of visible, tangible idols, his proces- 
sions, his feasts, his theatrical plays, only sub- 
stituting Christ, Pilate, Herod, and Judas for 



164 ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN MADRAS. 



the old heroes of Indian story; and, above all, 
he may retain his caste. To become a Chris- 
tian, he must renounce all these. So great is 
the passion of the people for an external reli- 
gion, that of a truth unto them " Strait is the 
gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto 
life, and few there be that find it." The priest 
Bartolomeo remarks, that "The native Chris- 
tians [i. e. Roman Catholics) are fond of the 
images of the saints, processions, and in gene- 
ral of the ceremonies of the Catholic Church ; 
and, as the Protestants lack all these things, it 
may naturally be conceived that their simple 
religion can have very few attractions for the 
Indians." Yet, blessed be God! this "simple 
religion" of Jesus Christ, so unattractive to the 
natural man, debased by idolatry and sin, is to 
fill the earth, for God has given to him the 
heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for a possession. Even the 
Roman Catholics of India have in many places 
turned from these vanities, cast down their 
idols, and are now serving the living God. 



STREET-PREACHING. 165 



The Hindus will not come to the missionary ; 
he must go to them. Caste keeps them out of 
our houses, and superstition makes them fear 
our churches. If we desire to preach the truth 
to the thousands who dwell in city, town, and 
village, we must go forth from house and church 
into the highways and byways of the land. 
In the streets of the city, and under the pepul- 
tree of the village, multitudes will give him a 
ready hearing. He may go almost anywhere, 
if he be courteous and discreet, and address the 
people on the way of salvation. He may take 
his stand at the street-corner, or in front of the 
village temple, in the rest-house, or before the 
school-house door, in a portico, or on a shop- 
step, and preach to those who will soon cluster 
around him. 

Street-preaching in a great city like Madras 
is far from being a romantic work. v In place 
of the simplicity and deference of a country 
population, they are noted for keenness, bold- 
ness, and vice. Spirituous liquors, now sold at 
almost every corner under the auspices of a 



166 STREET-PREACHING. 



Christian government, often add to the mis- 
sionary's difficulties. From the arrack and 
toddy-shops come half or wholly drunken men, 
to interrupt his discourse with obscenity and 
abuse, so as sometimes entirely to break up his 
audience. Yet, even in Madras, the audiences 
are generally well-behaved and attentive. When 
it is remembered that the missionary comes as a 
foreigner, to tell them that their gods are no 
gods, and their religion a fable, that they must 
turn from the sinful ways of their fathers, and 
be saved by One in whom they do not believe, 
it will be no cause of wonder that the depravity 
of their hearts should at times rise in anger 
against the preacher, and lead them to acts of 
violence. Their violence rarely goes farther 
than the hurling of dirt and dust, more rarely 
of stones, at the bearer of these unwelcome 
truths. 

Of late years, the organization of a regular 
anti-Christian society has increased the blas- 
phemy of the Hindus in the Madras presidency. 
This society has published tracts filled with 
misrepresentation of the Scriptures and with 
low abuse of missionaries ; it also hired men to 
go through the Tamil country, preaching and 
scattering books intended to arrest the progress 



OPPOSITION. 167 



of Christianity, and as they said, to make "the 
padres soon retreat from the country." As a 
specimen of the style of argument employed, 
we may give a paragraph or two from "The 
Dawn of True Wisdom" written by their poet 
and editor, Kathirvelan : — "Luther, in order 
to fill his stomach of a span long, gratify his 
lust, give vent to his indecent rage, and indulge 
in drunkenness of stinking liquor, fabricated a 
book, called it the Bible, and sent it abroad 
into the world. Through revenge it was that 
the vile sinner sent it abroad into the world. 
In order to cast a great number of people into 
hell, he gave them a new religion, and threw a 
stumbling-block in the way of wise men of many 
sects. It is a religion full of ten millions of 
devils, a religion which makes many people 
catch many more ; a religion which destroys 
the inhabitants of the world. If, my friends, 
you fall into this religion of the Christians, who 
have already proved the ruin of their own fami- 
lies, you will surely have to roam about with a 
beggar's hand and cup. If you fix and detain the 
Triune and Eternal one, who is called Vishnu, 
Brahma, and Siva, in a post, a water-jar, or an 
image, and believe with all the affection of your 
heart that the idol itself is very God, you will 



168 opposition. 



obtain a clear perception of the heavenly Being. 
They who, with tumultuous noise, deride the 
idol, are a stupid race. Forsake these hellish 
padres, (missionaries,) and follow the six sects, 
(of Hinduism.) Attack and drive from you the 
mouthings of these vagabonds. If the padres 
come to seduce you to your entire ruin, regard 
them as so many crocodiles which seize and 
devour men, and keep aloof from them." 

At the instigation of the emissaries of this 
society, heathenism made an effort to rally its 
strength to resist the preaching of the gospel ; 
but in a short time the enthusiasm of the friends 
of idolatry was exhausted; the society became 
insolvent, the poet a drunkard, and a Brahmin, 
w T ho had been one of their hired opposers of the 
truth, came to me, asking for employment in a 
mission-school. He was willing to teach Chris- 
tianity for three dollars a month ; but failing in 
that, he for awhile resumed his old trade, and 
preached against Christ over against the place 
in which one of our missionaries* daily preached 
the way of salvation by Christ. 

The heart of the missionary will shrink at 
times from the thought of going forth into the 

* The devoted Dr. Scudder, since deceased. 



STREET-PREACHING. 169 



street to meet such blasphemy, and from press- 
ing upon these hardened idolaters a salvation 
at which they will scoff; but in this way only 
can he reach the present adult population. It 
is a duty from which he cannot draw back ; and 
though he may go forth with shrinkings, he re- 
turns rejoicing that he has borne witness for 
Christ before the heathen, and made known to 
them the way of life. 

At first, this is doubly trying ; for the be- 
ginner knows that an imperfect knowledge of 
the language will lay him open to attack and 
ridicule, and may injure the cause he advocates. 
And yet the beginning must be made, or the 
work, be left undone. Sallying forth at sun- 
rise, tracts in hand, about the time of my first 
going out to meet the idolater and heathen on 
his own ground, I stopped at a street corner, 
and soon had an audience. My topic was hea- 
venly bliss, and the way to attain it. I spoke 
of man's sinfulness, his consequent unfitness for 
heaven, and the worthlessness of good works as 
a means of atoning for sin. Attracted by the 
sight as they passed along the street, one and 
another added himself to the crowd, and all 
listened attentively. I tried to make Christ 
known to them as the Saviour who had provided 



170 STREET-PREACHING. 



a way by which voyagers sinking in the sea of 
sin might reach the heavenly shore. As I told 
them of his incarnation and his works, his 
atonement, and the hand outstretched to save 
the lost, an aged man in the crowd, who knew 
something of Christianity, took up my discourse 
and carried it on for me — " Yes ! yes ! the Lord, 
becoming man, suffered and died for us. He is 
now glorious in heaven ; he can never die. He 
suffered for our sins ; he atoned for all sins — 
they are all wiped out ; he is the Saviour, we 
are saved, our sins are gone: I need not be 
anxious : you need not be anxious. What then 
do you come here and talk for?" Confessing 
that my imperfect Tamil did not do justice to 
the theme, I said that on so great, so vital a 
matter as that of salvation, I could not be silent ; 
that as far as I was able, I must speak. Answer- 
ing his question, I again spoke of the deliver- 
ance brought by Christ ; it was to tell of this 
that I had come to them ; that this was not my 
country, it was far distant ; why then should I 
leave my native land and my father's house ? 
" Yes, why did you leave your father's house ?" 
broke in one of the company, in an insolent 
tone. " I will tell you," I replied." "No ! I 
can tell," he again broke in. "Do you not 



STREET-PREACHING. 171 



get paid for it ? Have you no wages ? You 
came to get money, to have a house, and wife, 
and children ! How old are you ? Whence did 
you come, that you set yourself up to teach us ? 
You do not know how to speak. You have a 
church ; go there and preach !" Then brand- 
ishing his fingers insultingly and threateningly 
within an inch of my face — 

" Get out of this street ! What are you doing 
here! Go! go! Be off!" 

Though this torrent of abuse, with the 
laughter of the crowd, was far from inviting, I 
waited, yet with a tingling face, until he became 
tired and went away. Then again briefly ad- 
dressing the people, and distributing some tracts, 
I turned homeward. Every such encounter 
adds to the experience of the missionary, and 
prepares him for future labours. He learns to 
avoid offence and to anticipate objection, and 
also the best modes of meeting the arguments 
they advance. He learns to feel his own help- 
lessness, and to go to God in prayer that his 
great name may be vindicated and glorified, 
and that hard hearts may be softened by the 
Spirit of grace. 

The too common notion, that " Any one is 
good enough to preach to the heathen," that 



172 STREET-PREACHING. 



any well-meaning pious man, especially if lie 
be rough and driving, is qualified for the mis- 
sionary work, is a most mistaken one. If there 
is a place where the preacher needs to be keen 
in intellect, ready in wit, apt in study, versatile 
in debate, it is India. Though not learned in 
the studies of the West, the Hindus are far 
from being the stupid creatures many imagine 
them to be. Though the labouring classes in 
the country are often dull, the people, as a body, 
and the higher orders especially, have minds of 
great subtilty and acuteness. When they en- 
gage with you in debate, they give you no 
reason to wish 3 7 our mental powers less. On 
the contrary, the missionary needs all the wis- 
dom and skill he possesses to avoid being en- 
trapped and put to shame before the people. 
At times he is forced to lift up to God a silent 
prayer for an answer wherewith to silence the 
blasphemies of these Goliaths of Hindu idola- 
try. 

The early morning and the afternoon toward 
sunset are the times given to out-door preach- 
ing ; at other hours it would be unsafe to be 
exposed to the tropical sun of India. Going 
forth with your books, you can choose your 
ground, and take for your text any passing 



DAILY SCENES. 173 



scene or familiar occurrence. You go to the 
bazaar and enter into conversation with a shop- 
keeper, turning it upon the interests of the soul 
when a little company has gathered around 
you; or, sitting down upon a verandah, you 
discourse upon your theme, which is in this land 
always a proper one ; or, going out in a bandy, 
(carriage,) you draw up by the wayside, -and 
calling a passing traveller to you, make him a 
nucleus around which your congregation will 
cluster. 

It is a bright, balmy morning in January, 
and the air fans your cheek with a soft, refresh- 
ing coolness as you leave your compound. 
Women, with their robes thrown lightly about 
them are passing, bearing baskets of vegetables 
to the market; and men are going to their 
ablutions on the shore, or to their business. 
The funeral-pile, where last night a body was 
burned^ now smoulders, and sends up a thin 
cloud of smoke, while a solitary female watches 
the spot where some brother or son is returning 
to ashes. Brahmins, elegant and dainty, pass 
with their brazen pots to the well, for they 
cannot use water drawn by any of lower caste ; 
and the buffaloes saunter lazily along to the 
tank to bathe their ungainly slate-coloured 

15* 



174 DAILY SCENES. 



forms. You reach a favourable spot, and take 
your stand on some slight elevation — a house- 
step, a plank, or a block of wood or stone. The 
passing throng stops to hear what the padre 
has to say. Some rude fellows try to make 
sport ; but the respectable old gentleman with 
the big turban and white robe bids them be 
silent, or go about their business. The cooly, 
with a load on his head and the drops of per- 
spiration standing on his brow, and the scholar 
with his books under his arm, the shop-keeper, 
the mechanic, and even a Brahmin or two, stop 
to listen to your discourse. Your theme is the 
folly of idolatry ; you expose its absurdity and 
impiety, you deride the senseless block in the 
temple just before you, and ask them why 
immortal, soul-possessing men should bow down 
to a soulless, senseless, tongueless idol. The 
cooly grins ; the carpenter nods approbation. 
"Why, indeed!" says the bazaar-man; " this is 
the iron age." "It is our folly," exclaims the 
scholar. 

"But," asks the stout, oily Brahmin at your 
right, " do you not believe that God is every- 
where ?" 

" Certainly." 

" Then, if he is everywhere, is he not in the 



LOGIC OF IDOLATRY. 175 



idol ? and if lie is in the idol, shall Aye not wor- 
ship him as in the idol ? It is not the idol, but 
God in the idol, that we worship." 

The poor cooly did not before know how 
philosophic a thing idolatry was, and nods his 
approbation; so do others. This logic, how- 
ever, does not satisfy you. You remark that if, 
because God is everywhere, he is to be wor- 
„ shipped as in the idol, for the same reason they 
must worship every stone in the street, every 
tree in the tope, (grove,) every dog in the street, 
and even the polluted leather shoes to which 
they would not touch a finger. Moreover, if 
God be everywhere, and hence in the idol, why 
is it that you, my Lord Brahmin, must be called, 
after the image has been made, to bring the 
god into it with your Prana Prathishta?* 
Truly it is a waste of money to pay you for 
thus getting the god in, when he is already 
there." 

The cooly and his fellows smile again at 
this cut at the Brahmin. He, however, is in 
no wise disconcerted. "Ah!" says he, "you 
are labouring under the mistaken idea that we 
worship the stone. Are we fools ? Do we not 

* Prayer by which the divine beings are brought into the 
images. 



176 LOGIC OF IDOLATRY. 



know that stone is stone, and God is God? 
Idiots may worship blocks — we do not. But 
where is God ? Will you show him to us ? Who 
'can see him ? How, then, shall the unthinking 
mob, the untaught, grovelling mass, worship him 
whom they see not ? The idea of an unseen, 
intangible God is too abstract for them ; they 
cannot grasp it. Devotion will die unless we 
give the vulgar mind something actual on which 
to rest. Therefore we give them idols. The 
mind is concentrated on this, and thence ascends 
to God." 

"And how, pray, is the worshipper to get an 
idea of God by staring at such a thing as that?" 
you rejoin, pointing to Ganesha, with his gross 
body, and head black with oily libations. 
"Will you fill your eyes with dirt, that you 
may see the glorious sun ? Has God, the 
creator of all worlds, the Eternal and Infinite 
One, an elephant's head and such a misshapen 
body as that ? Who has ascended on high and 
studied his untold glories to paint his pic- 
ture or carve his likeness ? Hear a tale. In 
a city of the South lived a kummarlen, (artisan,) 
a man of wonderful skill in carving images ; 
whether it were wood or silver, stone or brass, 
he cared not. The land was filled with the 



LOGIC OF IDOLATRY. 177 



fame of his skill. One day a missionary sent 
for the image-maker. He came. Said the 
padre to the kummarlen, ' I have a job for 
you; I want you to grave me an image.' ' Let 
the gentleman give his order, and it shall be 
done,' said the kummarlen. 'Not now,' re- 
plied the padre ; ' I will call you when I am 
ready.' The next time the missionary met him, 
he asked, ' Can you carve me the image of which 
I spoke ?' ' Only let master tell what is to be 
carved, and it shall be done,' answered the man. 
'But,' said the padre, 'it must be like the ori- 
ginal ; if it is, you shall be well paid ; you 
shall have a hundred rupees, if you wish it.' 
' Never fear ! cried the kummarlen; 'it shall be 
done.' ' Very good !' answered the missionary; 
'just carve for me an image of my immortal 
soul, and bring it to me.' 'Ar da- appall !' ex- 
claimed the man, clapping his hand upon his 
mouth in astonishment — 'Arda-appali! your 
soul ! how can I do that ?' and turning, he was 
soon out of sight. 

" And now," you continue, " casting a search- 
ing glance around the attentive crowd, " if you 
cannot make a likeness of the soul of a poor 
pitiful worm, yesterday born, to-morrow gone, 
how, how will you make a likeness of the 



178 A STRONGHOLD. 



infinitely glorious, the eternally omnipotent 
Lord God, the Creator of all things, whom no 
man can see and live !" 

" True ! true ! This is the iron age. But 
thus our fathers did before us. It is custom. 
Your religion is good for you — ours is good for 
us. There are many roads leading to one city ; 
there are many paths to the heavenly shore." 

The Hindu now is in his stronghold; custom, 
the custom of their fathers, is to them immu- 
table law; but from this you drive him, and 
force him to acknowledge that the example of 
his ancestors is no excuse for wrong-doing, and 
then you seek to make him feel the weight of 
sin, that he may turn to Christ as a Saviour 
of sinners. But this is of all things the most 
unpalatable to the depraved heart of man. 
Ridicule their idols, and they will laugh with 
you ; lash the Brahmins, and they are delight- 
ed ; tell them that there is but one true God, 
and they agree with you ; but bid them receive 
the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and 
king, and they turn from him with anger and 
blasphemy. Salvation, not by good works, but 
by the confession of vileness, with faith in 
Christ, is offensive to the carnal heart. By the 
Spirit of God only can depraved men in India 



CONVERSATION WITH A BRAHMIN. 179 



be brought to submit themselves to the right- 
eousness of Christ, that they may become new 
creatures. 

An account of a conversation of a missionary 
in Bengal with a Brahmin, whom he fell in with 
while preaching, gives a good idea of their mode 
of argumentation, and also of the importance 
of understanding their belief, that we may not 
be put to silence by them. 

The missionary, in answer to the question, 
"What do you preach here?" replied, "We 
teach the knowledge of the true God." "Who 
is he ? I am God, "said the Hindu. 

The missionary thought it would be an easy 
matter to confute him, but he soon discovered 
his mistake. " This is very extraordinary," 
said he ; " are you the Almighty ?" 

"No," he replied: "had I created the sun I 
should be almighty ; but that I have not done." 

" How can you pretend to be God, if you are 
not almighty ?" 

" This question shows your ignorance. What 
do you see here?" said the Brahmin, pointing 
to the Ganges. 

"Water." 

"And what is in this vessel?" at the same 
time pouring out a little into a cup. 



180 CONVERSATION WITH A BRAHMIN. 



"This is water, likewise." 

"What is the difference between this water 
and the Ganges ?" 

" There is none," replied the missionary. 

"Oh! I see a great difference; that water 
carries ships, this does not ; God is almighty ; 
I am only a part of the Godhead, and there- 
fore I am not almighty; and yet I am God, 
just as these drops in the cup are real water." 

"According to your teaching," said the mis- 
sionary, " God is divided into many thousand 
portions; one is in me, another in you." 

"Oh!" said the Brahmin, "this remark is 
owing to your ignorance. How many suns do 
you see in the sky ?" 

"Only one." 

" But if you fill a thousand vessels, what do 
you see in each?" 

" The image of the sun." 

" But if you see the image of the sun in so 
many thousand vessels, does it prove that there 
are a thousand suns in the firmament ! No ; 
there is only one sun in the heavens, and it is 
reflected a thousand times in the water. So 
likewise there is but one God, and his image 
and brightness are reflected in every human 
being." 



CONVERSATION WITH A BRAHMIN. 181 



The missionary, instead of trying to point 
out the falsity of the comparison, wished to 
touch' his conscience. " God," he continued, "is 
holy*; are you holy?" 

"lam not," replied the Brahmin, "I am 
doing many things that are wrong, and that I 
know to be wrong." 

" How, then, can you say that you are God?" 

"Oh!" said the Hindu, "I see that you 
need a little more intellect to be put into your 
head before you can argue with us. God' is 
fire — fire is the purest element in creation; but 
if you throw dirt upon it, a bad odour will arise ; 
this is not the fault of the fire, but of that 
which is thrown upon it. Thus God in me is 
perfectly pure, but he is surrounded by matter, 
(that is, by the material, corporeal body;) he 
does not desire sin, he hates it ; the sin arises 
from matter." 

It is often a shorter and surer way to answer 
these sophistical pantheists and transcendental- 
ists with ridicule. To argue with them is an 
endless undertaking ; a good-humoured cut at 
their pretensions is far more efficacious ;, and if 
it be a fair hit, will secure to yourself a hear- 
ing and the sympathy of the audience. Thus 
a missionary, when preaching, was met by a 



182 CONVERSATION WITH A BRAHMIN. 



Brahmin with this same assertion that he was 
God. The missionary, too wise to enter upon 
an argument to prove that he was not God, 
thrust his hand into his pocket and then asked 
him, since he was God, how many fingers there 
were on his hand. "Ah! that is nothing," 
answered the Brahmin; "every man has five 
fingers on his hand." " Confess now," said 
the missionary, " that thou knowest nothing, 
and therefore art not God ; for on my hand I 
have not five fingers, but only four fingers and 
a half !" He then drew from his pocket his 
hand and showed it to the people, with part of 
one finger cut off. The poor Brahmin was 
compelled to retreat amid the derision of the 
crowd. 

To the weary labourer, street-preaching often 
seems like water spilled upon a rock. At times, 
cast clown by the grovelling spirit of the people, 
or pained by the blasphemy he is constrained 
to hear, he is ready to cry out, " Who hath 
believed our report, and to whom is the arm of 
the Lord revealed !" At other times he finds 
it a delightful duty to make known Christ and 
his salvation to listening multitudes, and to feel 
that these glorious truths are entering intelli- 
gent minds. Yet, whether they will hear, or 



BLACK-TOWN. 183 



whether they will forbear, he goes forward in 
his work, resting upon the precious promises 
of God, that his word shall not return unto him 
void. The false belief of the Hindus is under- 
mined by degrees ; and here and there a word 
fitly spoken, or a tract given, is made the means 
of leading some precious soul to the cross, or 
of raising up a preacher of the gospel to labour 
among his countrymen. Blessed are they 

THAT SOW BESIDE ALL WATERS ! 



§k&-toton. 

The Black-town of Madras is not, as friends 
at home seemed by their dread of it to suppose, 
the Black-hole of Calcutta, but the walled part 
of the city, and takes its name from the fact 
of its having been the residence of the natives 
when the English lived within the walls of the 
fort. 

It is, in fact, a city in itself, surrounded on 
three sides by a fortified wall, (the fourth being 
commanded by the batteries of the fort,) and 
contains some two hundred thousand inhabit- 
ants. The great mass of these inhabitants are 



184 BLACK-TOWN. 



Hindus ; but, on two or three streets next the 
seaside are the dwellings of Portuguese, Arme- 
nian, and East Indian (or half-caste) families. 
Upon the beach are the offices of merchants, 
the court-house, custom-house, and other large 
and imposing buildings. A large Armenian 
church gives its name to a street running 
parallel with the beach ; and in this street we 
had for a time a very comfortable dwelling- 
place. 

The streets of the Black-town are regular, 
commonly crossing each other at right angles. 
They are wide enough for the wants of the com- 
munity, and some of them well-built. Most of 
them, however, would have a mean appearance to 
one from a more enlightened land, (as the houses 
are ordinarily but one story in height,) did not 
their completely Oriental and Indian look give 
them an air of pleasing novelty and romance. 

One of the main streets, known as Popham's 
Broadway, is semi-European in its appearance, 
as the houses, though built partly in Indian 
style, are used as shops, and residences by 
Englishmen and East Indians. Some of them 
are large establishments, with valuable assort- 
ments of European and Asiatic goods; and 
their doorways are thronged every afternoon 



BLACK-TOWN. 185 



with the carriages of ladies enjoying the female 
luxury of shopping. The English Church Mis- 
sionary Society, and the Wesleyan Missionary 
Society, have each a neat chapel on this street. 
On the next street is the " Davidson Street 
Chapel" of the London Missionary Society, of 
which Henry Martyn, on his first Sabbath in 
India, writes: "Went to Black-town, to Mr. 
Loveless's chapel. I sat in the air at the door, 
enjoying the blessed sound of the gospel on an 
Indian shore, and joining with much comfort 
in the song of divine praise. This is my first 
Sabbath in India. May all the time I pass in 
it be a Sabbath of heavenly rest and blessed- 
ness' to my soul !" These chapels are provided 
with comfortable rattan settees, lamps for cocoa- 
nut-oil in Indian shades, and punkahs (large 
swinging-fans) kept in motion during the ser- 
vices by men stationed outside of the doors. 
These, with the brilliant white of the chunam 
plastering, strike the stranger's eye, but soon 
are so familiar as to be unnoticed. The preach- 
ing at these places is mostly in English, to 
English-speaking congregations ; during a part 
of the day, however, they are used for services 
in Tamil. 

Hard by the Davidson Street Chapel stands 

16* 



186 BLACK-TOWN. 



the American mission-press, where more than a 
hundred Hindu compositors, type-casters, bind- 
ers, and pressmen are constantly engaged, under 
the superintendence of a missionary printer, in 
all the varied departments of book-making, from 
the cutting of dies and casting of types to the 
binding of the printed volume. Hundreds of 
thousands of pages in Tamil, Telugu, Sanscrit, 
and Hindustani, issue every year from this press 
to carry the truth into thousands of Hindu 
families. The street-preacher, who can have 
the ear of the idolater from a distant province 
for but a few moments, is thus enabled to put 
into his hand a portion of the Scriptures or a 
religious book, which will be read in the quiet- 
ness of his native village, and deepen the im- 
pression which the words of the missionary may 
have made. The aid of the press is invaluable 
in such a work. 

Immediately in front of the press is the 
public market. Here the scene changes. While, 
within, the printers are with nimble fingers dis- 
tributing the types in entire silence, the street 
without is a scene of confusion and Babel-like 
hubbub. The racket and noise of men, women, 
and children are aided by the cawing of innume- 
rable crows, and the shrill cries of the hosts of 



BLACK-TOWN. 187 



kites who hover in the air, watching for an op- 
portunity to secure their fair proportion of the 
articles exposed for sale. If scraps of meat 
are thrown in the air, the kites, swooping down, 
catch them in their bills; and should they miss 
them, the crows will not. One is reminded of 
the chief baker's dream, in which he thought 
he had three baskets on his head, — " and in the 
uppermost basket all manner of bakemeats for 
Pharoah, and the birds did eat them out of my 
basket upon my head," — when he sees the kites 
darting down upon the meat carried on coolies' 
heads through the streets of Madras, and carry- 
ing off a portion when it is not well secured. 

A visit to the beach, at Madras, never failed 
to excite my admiration and interest. A hard, 
red road runs parallel with the open sea, and 
just above the sandy beach on which the waves 
are ceaselessly breaking. No one, with the 
least susceptibility to impressions of beauty and 
grandeur in the works of God, could fail to 
look with-delight upon the endless succession 
of billows that rolling onward from the horizon 
of waters, swell, comb, and burst in green 
sheets, to form again and roll onward still, 
again to burst and again to advance, till they 
dash with a hoarse thunder on the sparkling 



188 BLACK-TOWN. 

sand at your feet. But it is not inanimate 
nature alone that catches your eye. The beach 
is all life, bustle, and business. Fat accountants, 
with white turbans and flowing robes, ear-rings 
and finger-rings, are giving domineering com- 
mands to poor coolies. Boats are being un- 
loaded, logs of mahogany and bags of grain 
carried to storehouses, and conveyances pass- 
ing to and fro upon the road. The peons, with 
their belts and canes, are swaggering among 
the concourse to preserve order, and guard 
against smuggling. The water scenes, however, 
have a more lively interest. Here are three 
men launching a catamaran. The heavy raft 
of logs is dragged, first one end being carried 
forward, then the other, until it reaches the 
water's edge. A wave runs up the beach, and 
almost floats it ; another comes, and the men, 
thrusting it forward, leap upon it. But quick 
as thought, another furious breaker is upon 
them, and hurls catamaran and men upon the 
beach. They wait their opportunity, and now, 
with better success, they push out again into 
the surf; the first wave is passed, and the se- 
cond is upon them. You think they must be 
washed off; but no! it rolls over them, and 
plying their flat paddles vigorously, they reach 



BLACK-TOWN. 189 



the third line of breakers, push through it, and 
are beyond the surf. One of the three, fear- 
less of sharks, leaps into the water, mounts a 
billow, and rides on its foaming crest toward 
the shore ; another and another bear him on- 
ward, and he lands, sparkling with brine. As 
his clothes are but a strip of cloth of the size of 
a pocket-handkerchief, he has no need of a 
change, and is ready to go to work again. The 
masullah boats, which ply between ship and 
shore when the sea is not too violent, carrying 
goods and passengers, pass through the surf 
more cautiously, as an upset would be a more 
serious matter to them and their freight than 
to the fisherman or his catamaran.. 

The surf, almost always grand and beauti- 
ful, becomes terrific when driven before the 
fierce gales of the north-west monsoon, and 
then breaks with a violence that forbids inter- 
course between ship and shore. When such 
gales are betokened by the barometer, a signal 
is hoisted at the flag-staii for all ships to weigh 
anchor, or slip their cables and put to sea. 
Sometimes, however, the warning comes too 
late, and the vessels are driven upon the shore. 
I have seen the wrecks of two ships and fifteen 
native vessels strewn at one time upon the 



190 STREET PERILS. 



beach, all lost within two or three hours. In 
some cases almost whole crews perish within a 
stone's throw of those who, standing upon the 
shore, see all, and yet can give no assistance. 

Leaving the beach and taking, a drive through 
the purely native parts of the city, you feel 
somewhat troubled by the fact that, as there 
are no sidewalks, every one is walking in the 
middle of the street. It seems quite impossible 
to make any progress without running over 
some of the easy, careless, heedless men, women, 
or children who throng the way. Your horse- 
keeper, however, with his shrill cry of " Hey ! 
hey !" gives warning of your approach, and 
they side off toward the houses. Occasionally, 
he leaves his hold upon the buggy, and running 
before, clears a way for you through the thick 
groups of pedestrians. The cavady-man, with 
his two earthen water-pots balanced from a 
bamboo pole upon his shoulder, is on the look- 
out for you, lest his paneys (water-jars) should 
suffer by a collision. But there is a poor wo- 
man, so intent on gathering cow-dung, (to be 
mixed with chaff and dried for fuel,) that she 
does not hear the horse-keeper's outcries. You 
are just upon her, when he nimbly leaps for- 
ward and gives her a helping hand, and a hint 




Cavady-man with water-pots. p. 190. 



BLACK-TOWH. 191 



to take care of herself the next time, or she 
will be run over. A palankeen meets you, with 
a native merchant stretched on his broad back 
in conscious grandeur, the bearers dolorously 
grunting, and shining with perspiration : 
"Varndy! varndy !" (carriage! carriage!) 
they cry, and veering off, shove the walkers 
against the wall. 

The houses, usually one story in height, have 
neat little verandahs in front, sometimes painted 
red or with white and red stripes, and are 
adorned with rude paintings by Hindu artists. 
Tigers, soldiers, gods, and other objects are 
represented in naming colours upon the front 
walls. A favourite representation is that of 
their god Krishna in the top of a tree, with the 
garments of a number of women, with which he 
had run off while they were bathing. This 
gives a fair idea of the character of the gods 
of the Hindus ; they are mere men, with some 
increase of power and wickedness. 

If it be about dusk, you will meet all the 
cows belonging to the street returning from the 
pasture to which they were driven in the morn- 
ing. Each cow, when she reaches her master's 
house, leaves the herd, ascends the steps, and 
enters the front door, as if quite at home. This 



192 PUBLIC WELLS. 



is the way to the central court in which she is 
stabled. 

Here and there, either in the middle of the 
street or at one side, you see wells dug for 
public use. These wells are usually circular, 
and protected by a wall two or three feet in 
height, and surrounded by a plastered chunam 
floor, where, as in our illustration, a bath can 
be had by pots of water being poured over the 
head. At these wells, no rope, bucket, or wind- 
lass is in readiness, so that each must bring his 
or her water-pot and rope. The water is drawn 
by lowering the earthen or brazen vessel, the 
drawer standing beside the well, or, to avoid the 
risk of striking the fragile chatty against its 
side, standing with one foot on the well-wall, 
and the other on a plank, laid across it for this 
purpose. * Women may at all times be seen 
clustered about these wells, chatting, laughing, 
and gossipping, each with her water-jar and a 
cord suited to the depth of the well. One is 
forcibly reminded by these scenes of the reply 
of the woman of Samaria to our Lord, when, 
weary and wayworn, he sat down at noon be- 
side Jacob's well, and told her of living water 
that he would give: " Sir, thou hast nothing to" 
draw with, and the Well is deep." 



BLACK-TOWX. 193 



The male figure in the engraving represents 
a pakkali or water-man, with his bullock loaded 
with a skin-bottle of water. His own " loins are 
girded" for active labour. His leathern bucket 
hangs across the bullock's back. 

Although the city has no great temples, it 
has a large number of small ones. On a single 
street, through which we constantly passed, 
there are thirteen temples, each with its attend- 
ants and its idol-god. As you pass and look 
in, you see a hideous, oily, black stone, cut in 
the shape of a human figure, or of some imagi- 
nary monstrosity, wrapped in muslins and silks, 
adorned with paint and jewels, and surrounded, 
in his windowless recess, by lighted lamps. If 
it is the elephant-headed Ganesha, the god of 
wisdom, you will often see arranged before it a 
group of boys from four to fourteen years of 
age. These are scholars, come upon their ex- 
amination-day or on some festival, to make 
offerings and sing praises to this poor thing, 
— the patron of learning. Some of the temples 
will be closed. At others, the puja, or wor- 
ship, will be in performance by the priest, who 
lights his lamps, tinkles his bell, burns his in- 
cense, offers his flowers and cocoanuts before 
the idol, mumbles his prayers, and makes his 



194 HINDU WORSHIP. 



genuflexions, with the business air of a man who 
has something to do and is getting through it 
as fast as he can. The idea of the offering of 
love, thanksgiving, and heart-service is a 
stranger to his mind. His only thought is of 
certain ceremonies which are in themselves 
pleasing to the god, without any regard to the 
holiness or unholiness of the worshipper. It is 
a religion, not of life and heart, but of forms 
and ceremonies : to god, how utterly worthless ! 
for man, how completely unavailing ! 

With such notions of the worship that is ac- 
ceptable to the gods, the commands of the Bible 
sound strangely to the Hindu. "When told that 
God is a Spirit, almighty but invisible, he 
asks, " Do you pretend to say that we are to 
worship God ?" When you answer that you do, 
he triumphantly exclaims, " Here is a man who 
says God is invisible and intangible, and yet 
that he is to be worshipped ! How can you put 
flowers before him ? How can you wash and 
paint him, if he is an invisible Spirit?" His 
idea of worship is to do puja, (worship;) that is, 
offer incense, flowers, and sacrifices, to adorn with 
paint and shawls, to wash and carry abroad, 
&c. He conceives, therefore, that to speak of 
worshipping an invisible being is absurd. 



USES OP SHARNEY. 195 



There is one thing, at least, which somewhat 
startles the new-comer to Southern India, with 
his Anglo-Saxon notions as to cleanliness and 
utility; and that is the estimation in which 
sharney (in plain English, cow-clung) is held by 
the people. A substance almost unmentionable 
to iDolite ears in America is here one of the 
staples of life, beauty, and cleanliness. Every 
morning the floors of the houses and verandahs 
are ' washed with a mixture of sharney and 
water. Has your neighbour been killing a 
sheep? Instead of soap and sand, he cleanses 
his hands with sharney. Do you, in your Chris- 
tian defilement, sit awhile upon the piol (por- 
tico) in front of his house ? sharney will remove 
the pollution. Does he contract uncleanness 
in any manner ? sharney must wash it away. Is 
a floor newly paved? sharney must be scrubbed 
into it, to keep out the vermin. Is a bamboo 
moram (tray) bought by the tumey-Jcatehy for 
your rice, salt, and curry stuffs ? it must be well 
rubbed with sharney before it is fit for use. 
Does the cow get a galled side ? a plaster of 
sharney will cure it. In every street you see 
girls and poor women gathering sharney into 
baskets ; beside their houses they knead it with 
chopped straw or chaff, and stick it in flat cakes 



196 THE BAZAARS. 



against the wall to dry in the sun. Thus pre- 
pared, this useful sharney serves for fuel, and 
cartloads of such cakes are brought for sale 
from the country to the city. The ashes of 
sharney are holy, and are sprinkled on the 
verandah and rubbed on the forehead, and, by 
sanyasees (ascetics) and such holy men, daubed 
all over the face and body. But we must cease 
to enumerate the virtues and uses of this won- 
derful article, so little appreciated with us, lest 
the catalogue of its excellencies seems to surpass 
belief; to the Hindu, its praises cannot be 
overdone. 

The bazaars or trading-streets of Madras 
present scenes of much life and novelty to a 
foreigner, more especially toward afternoon, 
when they are most thronged. With us, the 
business of the merchant is transacted within 
his shop ; but in India the shop is a mere recess 
or stall open to the street. The purchaser sees 
the goods and wrangles over the price with the 
owner without leaving the common thorough- 
fare. Hence, the whole' passage-way will be 
an unbroken mass of men, in all the gay colours 
of Oriental dress, sending up a complete Babel 
of discordant voices. And not only are sales 
carried on thus publicly, but mechanics do their 




Silversmith at work. 197. 



THE BAZAARS. 197 



work, while they sell their goods in the same 
open place and way. The tinmen are busily 
at work with solder and red-hot iron ; the 
blacksmith plies his hammer on the rude anvil, 
while his assistant blows the bellows, which are 
merely two inflated skins, pressed and lifted 
alternately, one by each hand ; and the silver- 
smith forms his bracelets, or it may be his gods, 
with his little portable anvil (which he is ready 
to carry to your house, if the work is to be done 
under your eye) stuck into the earth on which 
he squats while at work. Though their tools 
are few and rude, they turn out articles of a 
workmanship astonishingly delicate and beauti- 
ful, by the peculiar dexterity with which these 
rough implements are handled. 

The cotton cloths of the Hindu bazaar have, 
almost down to the present day, been unsur- 
passed by the products of the mechanical inge- 
nuity and scientific knowledge of European 
nations, even when aided by the wondrous 
power of the steam-engine. Herodotus, the 
ancient Greek historian, (when treating of In- 
dia, tells his countrymen,) that, " The wild 
trees of that country, bear fleeces as their fruit, 
surpassing those of sheep in beauty and in ex- 
cellence ; and the Indians use cloth made from 



198 THE BAZAARS. 



those trees." The wise Grecians may have 
thought this a traveller's tale ; but from that 
day to this, the half-civilized Hindu has woven 
in his mud-walled hut, muslins and other fabrics, 
from the fleece of the wonderful cotton-plant 
that have been sought by every nation of the 
commercial world. Now, however, the tide is 
turning, and the weavers of India find them- 
selves hardly able to compete with some of the 
manufactures of England and America. The 
bazaars show not only an array of Arnee and 
Dacca muslins, and Madras handkerchiefs, but 
also of English calicoes and American long- 
cloths ; while hardware, china, stationery, 
glass, and other articles of trade from Europe, 
entirely fill some of the shops. 

The money-changers, seated on their counters 
with piles of gold, silver, and copper before 
them ; the sellers of areca-nut and betel-leaf 
for chewing ; the confectioners ; the sellers of 
bangles, (glass-bracelets ;) the potters, and 
others, draw their stock in trade purely from 
Indian sources, and wear a purely Indian ap- 
pearance. 

At certain festival seasons, as in the Holi, 
celebrated in honour of their god Krishna, when 
the men sprinkle each other with a red fluid 



THE MINSTREL. 199 



from syringes made of bamboo, and engage in 
other frolics in imitation of the god ; and at 
the Mohurrum, when they parade through the 
streets, disguised as Africans, savages, and 
tigers, with chains about their loins, springing 
from side to side, and it may be, with a piece 
of raw meat in their mouths, — the streets are a 
scene of great, though not very refined, merri- 
ment. 

At night, these scenes of bustle, business, 
and amusement give place to others of a dif- 
ferent character. The temples are lit up with 
rows of lamps, which cast a glittering light upon 
the image in its deep recess ; and, if it be a 
feast-day, fireworks and music resound within 
the court. The story-teller, at the city-gate, 
with his audience seated on the earth around 
him, has gone ; but on the verandah of one of 
the houses of the better sort, you will find the 
minstrel chaunting the praises of the gods, with 
a picture before him, a lamp or two to make it 
visible, and his virney, or guitar, in his hand, 
ae screams out in doleful notes the wondrous 
deeds of Rama, Hanuman, or 'Krishna, to the 
admiration of the bystanders. They do not, 
however, escape without criticism, as is shown 
by many stories told at their expense among 



200 THE MINSTREL. 



the people. Perhaps the reader will excuse me 
for giving from memory, a brief one, as a spe- 
cimen : 

" A wandering minstrel had heard that a cer- 
tain king was very liberal in his gifts to artists 
of merit, and having a profound conviction of 
his own abilities as a vocalist, set out for the 
royal city. Having reached it, he took lodg- 
ings, and every evening, seating himself on the 
verandah, sang in his most captivating style, 
hoping that the fame of his skill would come to 
the ears of his majesty, and that he would be 
summoned to perform in the royal presence, 
and bask in the sunshine of the royal favour. 
While thus regaling the passers-by, he noticed 
that the wife of the washerman who lived next 
door, was always melted to tears by his music, 
and as he proceeded, sobbed and wept pro- 
fusely. Flattered by this tribute to his musical 
powers, the minstrel said to her, one evening, 
' My friend ! do not be thus overcome ! Why 
should you weep when I sing ?' To which she 
replied, ^Ah, sir ! I had such a fine donkey, 
and so useful, too; but he died, and now I 
never hear your voice without thinking of my 
poor lost donkey,' and again she broke out into 
uncontrollable grief. The minstrel concluded, 



MARRIAGE PROCESSIONS. 201 



after this, that it was hardly worth while for 
hini to continue his concerts in that neighbour- 
hood." 

There is nothing, however, which creates so 
great a commotion in the streets at night, as the 
occurrence of a wedding in a wealthy family. 
For several successive days and nights, the 
ceremonies are kept up, and the streets filled 
by the procession ; horsemen and footmen, 
with bands of music, and a train of men bearing 
huge torches, accompany the bridal palankeen, 
which is completely covered with garlands and 
tassels of fragrant or showy flowers. The pro- 
cession is followed by one or more carts loaded 
with great skin-bottles, or rather casks of oil, 
from which the torch-bearers replenish their 
vessels. Fireworks, too, are let off from time 
to time, greatly to the discomposure of your 
horse, when you meet such a procession in the 
narrow streets. This show and feasting is at the 
expense of the bride's father; and such is the 
tyranny of fashion, that a man will often im- 
poverish and embarrass himself with debt for 
years to come, to be able to give his daughter 
a fine wedding. This is one reason of the un- 
welcomeness of a daughter's birth : for to have 



202 MISSION-FIELD. 



a family of girls to many is ruinous ; while to 
have them unmarried is disgraceful and most 
unfortunate. 

Here, it will be seen, in the Black-town of 
Madras alone, is a great and wide field for mis- 
sionary effort. Here two hundred thousand 
souls, without regarding the five hundred thou- 
sand without the walls, are fully accessible to 
the gospel ; but, as yet, it has been preached 
to them only to a very limited degree. True, 
the schools of the Scotch missionaries have been 
most useful, and have given a Christian educa- 
tion to many young men, some of whom are 
now labouring for the enlightenment of their 
countrymen ; and the truth has been preached 
by the American missionaries and others to 
thousands of adults, and thousands of tracts 
have been given away. Yet, after all, what is 
done is very little when compared with the mass 
to be reached. On the Sabbath, not so many 
as two thousand of the Hindus within the walls 
of the Black-town of Madras hear the gospel. 
Where are the one hundred and ninety-eight 
thousand ? They are living in heathenism, 
idolatry, and vice, scarcely illumined by a 
single ray of light. The Lord can make a few 



BLACK-TOWN. 



203 



loaves to feed five thousand men, but it is only 
by working miraculously ; and, though we may 
not limit his power, we must maintain that the 
church has no cause to ask why India is not 
converted, while so little is done even in those 
spots where most is done. 




PART III. 



f atoto totalling. 

In the month of June, 1850, it was decided 
that two members of the Mission should make 
a tour, for the double purpose of preaching in 
the villages and surveying the ground for a 
new station in the interior. Our preparations 
were necessarily more complicated than those 
of the American traveller, who breakfasts in 
Philadelphia, dines in New York, and sups in 
Boston, and who, at his journey's end, can find 
food and lodging, bedding and light in a well- 
furnished hotel. The steam-car had not yet 
made its appearance on the plains of the Car- 
natic ; so that we must take a somewhat slower 
conveyance — the palankeen. 

A bullock-cart having been sent on in ad- 
vance, with our tent and a large supply of tracts 
and Scriptures, our palankeens were brought 
to the house to be packed. Mine was fresh 
from the maker's hands, and with its well-var- 



THE PALANKEEN. 205 



nished exterior, looked like a handsomely- 
finished box, six feet long and three feet deep, 
standing upon four short legs. On pushing 
back the sliding doors in the sides, you find 
that you have a neat little berth-like apartment, 
furnished with mattress and pillow covered 
with reel morocco. At the foot is a small mova- 
ble strip of wood, against which you brace 
yourself, and over this a shelf containing two 
drawers. The whole is carried by two stout 
poles, firmly fixed to the ends of the palankeen 
by iron rods. The price of a palankeen varies, 
with its workmanship, from twenty to fifty 
dollars : if richly plated, its cost will be greater. 
As your palankeen, or, more familiarly, your 
" palkee," is to be your home, your trunk, your 
library, and your carriage, packing it is quite 
a momentous affair. Lifting out the mattress, 
you spread a blanket upon the rattan floor of 
the palankeen, and on it lay your clothes ; then, 
replacing the bed, you stow away books and 
loose articles at your head and behind the pil- 
low. In the drawers there is room for pen, 
ink, paper, and other little matters. From the 
ceiling hangs a net in which your cap, a few 
oranges, a brush, &c, find a place, and in each 
corner you can put some useful article. With- 



206 THE BEARERS. 



out, a rattan basket hangs, containing a tumbler 
and gurglet, or earthenware bottle. On the 
top may be fastened a camp chair and table, 
for use when away from such conveniences. 

At dusk the bearers made their appearance, 
twenty-six for the two palankeens ; sturdy 
fellows with sinewy limbs, trained from boyhood 
to their work. While we finished our prepara- 
tions, they stretched themselves on the brick 
floor of the verandah to catch a nap before 
their night of toil began. But the hour for 
starting comes, and Pakkiyer, the head-bearer, 
is told to call his men. Slowly they rise and 
gird themselves for their journey. Each 
bearer applying one end of a piece of cotton 
cloth several yards long to his waist, gives the 
other to a companion to hold, then turning 
round and round he wraps himself in it, till 
reaching the end, he takes it from his assistant 
and tucks it firmly within the roll ; tightening 
his turban, he places his long staff and his 
leathern sandals with his little bundle on the 
palankeen, and stands ready for the start. The 
musaljee lights his torch, a tight roll of cloth 
three or four feet long, and impregnated with 
turpentine, which he feeds by pouring oil upon 
it from the tin vessel carried in his other hand. 



THE START. 207 



The cavady-inan balances on his shoulder his 
bamboo staff, with a large square tin box hang- 
ing from either end, containing our tea and 
sugar, plates, knives, forks, spoons, and all 
the little essentials of housekeeping. Three 
bearers now put their shoulders under the 
hinder pole, so as to raise one end of the palan- 
keen, and the traveller turns in : three more 
sieze the pole in front and lift it. " All ready ! 
go ahead!" comes from the interior, and off we 
move, at first slowly, but with a gradually 
quickening pace. The palankeen with a 
quivering motion keeps time to the measured 
and peculiar tread of the bearers. Six carry at 
a time, while the other, six run alongside ready 
in a few minutes to relieve their companions. 
As they move on, they keep time with a wail- 
ing, grunting ejaculation of " Oh ! oh! Ah! 
ah ! Oh ! oh ! Eh ! eh !" intermingled with an 
exclamation now and then of "Lively there!" 
"Bandy coming !" or " Softly! softly," &c. At 
times the leader gives them a song, usually of 
flattery to the rider, to which the rest grunt an 
earnest and dismal chorus. 

The bearers are a faithful set of fellows, with 
whom you may intrust yourself and your pro- 
perty without the least fear. While under 



208 THE PALANKEEN. 



their charge, every thing in your palan- 
keen is safe. Even a lady may travel alone 
with them for hundreds of miles without appre- 
hension. If she has a babe, it will find in 
those hardy men more than one tender and 
gentle nurse to carry and amuse the " chinna 
baba," (little baby.) In the cities, they are 
somewhat given to tricks, and many amusing 
stories are told of their impositions upon Grif- 
fins, as new-comers in India are styled. Some- 
times the rider, deceived by their outlandish 
cries, thinks they are groaning under his 
weight. Filled with pity, and unable to endure 
their imaginary misery, as in the case of our 

worthy Captain P- ? ^hey get out and walk 

in the sweltering sun, not a little to the aston- 
ishment of the bearers, who wonder why in the 
world the doorey (gentleman) should walk 
when he might ride. 

At half-past eight in the evening we set out. 
As the two palankeens wound their way to- 
ward the gate with the spare bearers and the 
cavady-men trotting beside them, the torches 
of our musaljees cast a lurid glare along the 
dark, close-built streets of the city. Passing 
shops, and temples, and long rows of window- 
less houses, the loud cries of our escort created 



THE PALANKEEN. 209 



quite a stir. Men stared, dogs barked, and 
women peeped out of their doors. But the 
romance was brought to a sudden close before 
we reached the city-gate, by the falling of the 
shelf of Mr. Scudder's palankeen upon his feet. 
The palankeen proved too old and weak for 
our work. Nothing could be clone but turn 
about and retrace our steps. By one o'clock 
in the morning, a new one had been procured, 
and we were off again for a run of twenty- 
seven miles to Stree-permatoor. Leaving the 
city by the Elephant gate, we turned westward, 
and our bearers, with more subdued voices, 
moved soberly through the country. The night 
was warm, but the motion, though disliked by 
many, was to me most soothing. Gazing at the 
twinkling stars and the dim outlines of trees 
upon the dark sky, revery soon gave place to 
sleep. 

The bearers stopped once to eat, but other- 
wise scarcely halted till they reached the end 
of their run. The work, to a stranger, seems 
hard, but is far from oppressive, if the stages 
are not too long. In fact the men grow fat 
on a march. The ordinary run for a night is 
twenty-two to twenty-eight miles, but, if pressed, 
they will go fifty miles in a single night. 



210 STFvEE-PERMATOOR. 



Their pay is about ten cents a-day to each 
bearer, when engaged by the month. Our 
delay made us late in reaching the bungalow. 
The sun was hot when we entered the village 
of Stree-permatoor. It contains an extensive 
temple of Rama, with a gobram or pagoda 
seven stories high. Near it our bearers stopped, 
not to pay their respects to the god, but to run 
to a small booth where some charitable native 
kept a supply of buttermilk for the refresh- 
ment of travellers. A mile more, and our 
bearers, with panting loins and covered with 
perspiration, set down their burdens at the 
door of the goverment bungalow. It is a large 
one-storied house, built in the usual India style, 
of brick plastered within and without. This 
bungalow was presented to government for the 
entertainment of travellers by a Hindu gentle- 
man. Ascending a short flight of steps, you 
enter the central hall. On each side of it is 
a bed-room with bath-room attached. Two 
tables and cot-bedsteads, with a few chairs and 
jars of water, complete the furniture. A short 
distance in the rear stands the kitchen and 
stable. 

As you enter, the sepoy in charge meets 
you with a low salaam, and stands ready to 



THE BUNGALOW. 211 

* 

execute your commands. He is a pensioned 
soldier, and shows with pride two medals given 
for good conduct in the wars with Burmah and 
China. He was at the taking of Ava, the 
capital of the Burmese Empire, when the 
American missionaries were saved from the 
sword of the executioner by the hurrahs of the 
British army as they* scaled the city walls. 
Our cook, who had left Madras before us, 
also came forward to make his salaam and un- 
pack his cavady-boxes. He had made his 
purchases in the town, and soon gave us a 
breakfast of chicken, eggs, and tea. The bear- 
ers adjourned to the shade of a tree, and, after 
cooking and eating their rice and curry, 
stretched themselves out for sleep, while we 
enjoyed the hospitable shelter of the bungalow. 
These bungalows, or rest-houses, are pro- 
vided for the entertainment of travellers, 
ordinarily by the government, sometimes by 
the charity of individuals. They contain a 
few simple articles of furniture, and are kept 
clean by servants who receive a small pay 
from the government and also presents from 
visitors. The total absence of inns, and the 
barriers raised by caste, make some such 
refuge absolutely necessary for the enter- 



212 HOT WINDS. 



tainment of travellers in India. To build 
such choultries or "rest-houses" is considered 
by the Hindus an act of the highest merit. 
To us, the shelter was most grateful; for, 
though the morning was cool and refreshing, 
(the thermometer standing at 81°,) the hot 
wind through the day whistled around us, 
making us thankful for a refuge from its fiery 
blasts. After sunset, the thermometer stood 
at 96°, but the heat was less oppressive than 
it had been in the city on previous days. 

The hot land wind which visits Madras 
'during the months of April, May, and June, 
sweeps over the Western Ghauts, depositing 
there its moisture, and crossing the parched 
plains of the Mysore and the Carnatic, reaches 
the eastern shore of South India heated and 
dry. All nature wilts before it, and the in- 
habitant of colder climes shrinks from its 
blasts within the cover of his house. I well 
remember my first experience of the hot wind. 
The day was warm, the thermometer standing 
at 91°; no sea-breeze refreshed us, and all was 
languor and lassitude. Presently the wind 
■ was heard rustling through the branches. On 
going out to greet it, it met me hot as if from 
an open furnace. I took my thermometer 



THE CARNATIC. 213 



and held it in the wind as it passed through 
the house. Immediately, from 91°, it rose to 
100°. Flowers upon the table withered and 
turned black and crisp; the sides of books 
curled up ; clothes seemed scorching to the 
skin, and we were glad to hide in a sheltered 
corner to escape its power. Toward evening 
the land-wind gave way to the cool and re- 
freshing sea-breeze, and we seemed to live 
again. These winds, happily, do not blow more 
than a week or two at a time ; they then inter- 
mit, to commence again after a short interval. 
During their continuance any exertion is made 
by Europeans with great reluctance. 

As the night only is devoted to travelling in 
Southern India, we continued in the bungalow 
through the day. At sundown, having repacked 
our boxes, and despatched the cavady-man and 
cook, we took leave of the bungalow attendants, 
and resumed our journey, setting out on foot. 

The road was of British construction, hard, 
red, and at this season, extremely dusty. The 
country around presented the aspect of a desert, 
dotted here and there with trees, and with an 
occasional village, almost hid within the shade 
of its tope of cocoanut, palmyra, and tamarind- 
trees, from amid which the blackened pagoda 



214 THE CARNATIC. 



of its idolatrous temple rears its head. Populous 
as is India, it is not by any means fully peo- 
pled ; more than one-half of the soil is untilled. 
Owing to wars, the oppressiveness of taxation, 
and the sorer oppression of tax-gatherers, to- 
gether with the want of irrigation, vast portions 
of this rich country lie completely waste. Thus 
has it been in this district since the ferocious 
Hyder Ali fulfilled the vow of vengeance formed 
"in the gloomy recesses of a mind capacious 
of such purposes," and left the Carnatic a wil- 
derness devoid of life. It is a sad spectacle, 
fit emblem of the moral desolation that rests on 
India ; but, by the word of God, both shall pass 
away, and the desert blossom as the rose. "When 
Christianity shall have given purity, industry, 
and truth to the Hindus, these plains, now T so 
bare, will be the abode of beauty and plenty. 

Our palankeens soon overtook us, and rolling 
in, we pursued our way in the silent night 
watches, soothed to sleep by the song of our 
bearers. An easy run of twenty-four miles 
brought us to Bala-chetty-chattiram, several 
hours before sunrise. Spreading our palankeen 
mattresses on the verandah, we slept till day- 
light; then going into the village, we made 
known to the people the truths of the Bible. 



BALA-CHETTT. 215 



We were followed on our return by a number 
of persons. One of these, a fine young man in 
government employ, had been a pupil in the 
American mission-school at Madras, and pro- 
fessed a total disbelief of Hinduism ; a second 
had, from this young man, learned the folly of 
idolatry; and a third, who was the village 
schoolmaster, had been a scholar in the institu- 
tion of the Scotch Free Church. It was cheer- 
ing, at this distance from the city, to find these 
diverging rays of light streaming even faintly 
from its missions into the gross darkness of the 
country ; and it encouraged us to go forward 
in the work of kindling and cherishing these 
little flames, trusting to God to make them, in 
his good time, the means of a great flashing 
forth of divine truth. 

In the afternoon we went to the temple near 
by. It was of the usual form, with its gobram 
facing the east, but somewhat dilapidated. In 
front of the temple was a beautiful tank, sur- 
rounded on all sides by flights of granite steps 
descending to the water. In its centre stood a 
stone shrine, visited annually by the idol, and 
at the opposite side was a small temple. As 
we came near, a Brahminee woman, who caught 
sight of us, ran to her house in great haste to 



216 DISCUSSION. 



hide herself, while a lad hurried to close the 
temple-gate. Going to a stone-built portico, 
erected for the accommodation of strangers by 
some pious Hindu of past ages, we seated our- 
selves upon the top step, and soon were sur- 
rounded by a group of Brahmins. They were 
very ready for argument ; one of them, indeed, 
became quite violent, asserting that we were 
invading the peace of the land, and taking the 
bread from their mouths ; that in former days 
the East India Company had supported and 
countenanced their religion ; but that within a 
few years past, the padres, (missionaries,) com- 
ing and going through the land, had broken up 
this happy state of things, so that the Brahmins 
were losing their sustenance and the temples 
were going to decay. He had many objections 
to make to our doctrine. The first was, that 
of the heathen of old, "Where is your God?" 
With the Psalmist (in the 115th Psalm) we could 
reply— 

" Our Grocl is in the heavens ; he hath clone -whatsoever he 

pleased, 
61 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 
" They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, 

but they see not : 
** They have ears, but they hear not : noses have they, but 

they smell not : 



ARCOT. 217 

"They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, 

but they walk not. 
" They that make them are like unto them : so is every 

one that trusteth in them." 

To the question " Why did you not sooner 
bring the gospel to us?" it was not so easy to 
give an answer. Alas ! how has the church of 
Christ failed to obey the command of Christ to 
carry the gospel to every creature ! They were 
surprised to hear that we were not "paid five 
hundred dollars a month by the government to 
preach to them," and finally separated from us 
on our return to the bungalow, with very friendly 
farewells. 

Our third night of travel brought us to Arcot, 
where we intended to form our plans, and to 
leave the high road for the villages, to survey 
the field for new mission stations. Our first 
care was to despatch a note to Mr. B., collector 
of the district of North Arcot. This modest 
title is very far from conveying to an American 
ear the idea which accompanies it to the mind 
of the inhabitant of British India. The col- 
lector, or, as it is corrupted, "kalkakta," is 
the highest authority known to the poor ryots, 
(cultivators.) He is, to all intents, governor 
of the district, with, it may be, a million of in- 



218 A COLLECTOR. 



habitants, over which he rules ; and is looked 
up to with awe and reverence as the personifica- 
tion of that mysterious, unknown, unseen power 
— "The Company" — by which the land they 
till is owned. 

Mr. B., of Arcot, held his high station, his 
large income, and his influence as talents com- 
mitted to his care for the glory of God. He 
was an unsought contributor to the American 
and other missions in India. On the receipt 
of our note, he immediately returned to us 
an invitation to call upon him, and command 
him as to our wishes. As we desired infor- 
mation with regard to the towns and villages 
which we expected to visit, we called a common 
country bullock-cart, and throwing into it a 
mattress, set out for his residence, three miles 
distant. 

The " bullock-bandy" is a primitive style of 
carriage, for the conveyance of grain and other 
produce from the country to the cities; it is a 
simple collection of poles, formed into a rude 
frame, resting upon an axle, with two wooden 
wheels. It is drawn by two of the oxen of 
India, with their humps and long dewlaps, not 
like the trained driving bullocks used by gen- 
tlemen in their carriages, swift and elegant, but 



IP" m 




BULLOCK-BANDY. 219 



slow, sober, and plodding. The bandy has an 
arched mat-covering, and over this the straw 
with which the cattle are fed is hung in long 
rolls. The hire of a man, a pair of bullocks, 
and bandy, by the month, is at the rate of a 
quarter of a dollar a-day, out of which sum 
feed must be found for man and beast. 

Our illustration* gives us a picture of one 
of these bandies, with a family on a journey. 
The driver, seated on the pole just upon the 
bullocks, has full opportunity to stimulate their 
spirits with his foot as well as his whip, or to 
give their tails a wicked twist in an emergency. 
The patient creatures, all scored and starred 
with -the branding-iron, (for health and orna- 
ment,) plod meekly on with the rude convey- 
ance which carries all the goods of the house- 
hold, as well as the weaker members of the 
family. 

But our bandy was ready. Creeping in at 
the back, and taking our seats on the mattress, 
we gave the word to our driver to go to the 
collector's house. Passing through the Arcot 
cantonment, with its barracks for troops, and 
handsome houses in spacious enclosures, occu- 

'■' c From a painting by a Hindu. 



220 THE PALAK. 



pied by officers of the Indian army, we descended 
by a native bazaar to the Palar River. At 
Arcot, eighty miles from its mouth, the Palar 
is more than half a mile wide, and, in the rainy 
season, a mighty river. But now, without 
bridge or boat, we passed it in our ox-cart with- 
out wetting our bullocks' hoofs. Not a drop of 
water moistened the heavy sand through which 
our cart-wheels ploughed their way. It seemed 
a river of desolation, vast, sandy, parched, and 
glaring in the noonday sun. But, while thus 
deathlike to the eye, beneath the sandy surface 
lie hidden treasures of moisture, which may be 
obtained by. digging a few inches beneath the 
sand. 

The banks between which this river of sand 
winds its way, are fringed with the graceful 
cocoanut, the date, the palmyra, and the spread- 
ing tamarind. Bending » over this glistening, 
waterless stream, with every leaf glittering in 
the bright sunlight, these waving trees form a 
striking contrast to the arid sand. While all 
on the surface is parched and dreary, their 
summits are ever green ; for they have sent 
down their roots to the well-springs ; and they 
are drinking from unseen streams. So shall 
" the righteous nourish as the palm-tree ;" for 



HINDU OFFICIALS. 221 



he drinks of the river of the water of life, while 
others are dead and fruitless about him. 

Not far from the other bank stood the col- 
lector's house. Our poor rustic bandy-man, not 
daring to come too near the great ruler's resi- 
dence, drew up before the cutchery or court- 
house. Native officers, handsomely dressed, 
were grouped before it. One of them, the 
duffadar, with his silver-hilted dagger and broad 
belt, not conceiving that riders in so humble a 
conveyance could have any business there, told 
us, with bold impudence, that the collector was 
not at home. We informed him that we hap- 
pened to know that the collector was at home ; 
and, . not waiting to be introduced by these 
courtly gentry, we entered the house. Mr. B.'s 
warm reception of us showed them that they 
had made a mistake, and completely changed 
their behaviour, which became as obsequious as 
it had been rude. Insolence and servility are 
twin vices, and both are almost universal cha- 
racteristics of the Hindu. Anxious to know who 
and what we were, they plied our poor bandy- 
man with questions ; but to no purpose, for all 
that he could tell was, that we got into his 
bandy, and bade him drive to the collector's. 

Having received from Mr. B. the advice and 



information which we needed, and the loan of a 
map of his district, from which we made a copy, 
with the names of the villages and towns through 
which we might pass, we recrossed our water- 
less ford, and prepared to set out for Arnee, a 
town twenty miles distant from Arcot. 



At dusk we left the bungalow in our palan- 
keens, and again crossed the Palar, now sombre, 
with its silent waste stretching away in the 
twilight between its curtains of drooping foliage. 
Our road ran southward through cultivated 
fields, and was beautifully wooded. The moon 
soon set, and we went on our way by the light 
of the musaljee's torch. The glancing of the 
light upon overhanging trees, the monotonous 
chorus of the bearers, the silence of night, the 
soft warmth of the air, combined to produce 
sensations peculiarly Oriental and soothing. It 
became apparent, however, after a while, that 
our booies (bearers) were at fault. Instead of 
the even road, they were traversing fields and 
trenches, much to the discomposure of the 
riders. At last, they confessed that they could 



ARNEE. 223 

not find the town, and asked leave to halt until 
day should break. Setting down the palan- 
keens, they stretched themselves on the ground, 
and were soon fast asleep. At dawn, they were 
off again, and soon ran, with grunt and shout, 
through the unguarded entrance into the fort 
of Arnee. 

Arnee was once a stronghold of Hyder 
Ali, and his arsenal. That remarkable man, 
who, from serving as a volunteer and a private 
in the army of the rajah of Mysore, became 
master of his sovereign, and one of the most 
powerful opponents of British power in India, 
at this place repulsed the attack of the famous 
English commander, Coote. But it was wrested 
from his son Tippoo, and for sixty years has 
been in the hands of the English. At first, as 
a frontier station, it was occupied by a strong 
force ; but now, after the lapse of a few years, 
so rapidly has the Anglo-Indian empire grown, 
it is in the centre of the Company's territories 
in Southern India, and needs no garrison. So 
completely is the country around subdued to 
British power, that no troops are needed to 
overawe or restrain its people. The barracks 
are unoccupied, except by an English captain 
and a few sepoys, (Hindu soldiers;) and the 



224 AKNEE. 

fortifications have been bjown up, for a freer 
circulation of air. Only a granite wall, some 
twenty feet in height, with its earthen embank- 
ment, circular bastions, and half-filled trench, 
remain. 

Within the fort is a heathen temple, dedi- 
cated to the god Siva, with its gates, pagodas, 
and porticos. Beyond this is the western wall 
of the fort, over which a line of blue hills, some 
ten miles distant, rear their heads. Standing 
on the battlements, you look out on green fields 
of growing rice stretching away to the foot of 
the hills, with here and there clusters of trees 
to mark the place in which their cultivators 
have gathered into villages. The whole scene 
is beautiful, and lacks only that praise to God 
should ascend from every tope and town. You 
feel that 

" Every prospect pleases, 
And only man is vile." 

India will be a glorious land when its idols are 
abolished and its people serve the living God. 
Soon may that happy day be ushered in ! 

On our arrival, we placed our palankeens in 
the verandah of one of the barracks, — one-story 
brick ranges of rooms — and sent to the com- 
mandant a note from Mr. B. He soon made 



A TEMPLE. 225 

his appearance in his shirt-sleeves, and wel- 
coming us to Arnee, gave us the keys of one 
of the barracks. Having deposited our goods, 
and got a breakfast from our own resources, — 
for you find no inns or cook-shops in the vil- 
lages of India — we looked about us a little. The 
temple within the fort is surrounded by a 
granite wall. Before it, stands a bull, also of 
granite, representing the divine Bursava, on 
which Siva rides ; and also a place for offerings. 
Passing these, I looked within through the 
grated gateway. As I stood, in such a revery 
as the place might well give birth to, gazing 
through the bars, I was startled by a sudden 
"Ar-atlm?" (Who's that?) from a scowling 
Brahmin, who started up, I know not whence. 

Within this temple live a number of cobra di 
capeMas, venomous serpents, worshipped by the 
people, and daily fed with eggs by the priests. 
Fearful of offending these sacred reptiles, the 
people always speak of them as the "nulla 
pambu" (the good snake,) and pay to them 
divine honours. Thus do they exemplify the 
character ascribed to the heathen in the first 
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, that 
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became 
fools, and changed the glory of the incor- 



226 ARXEE. 

ruptible God into an image made like to. cor- 
ruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed 
beasts, and creeping things." The Hindus, 
not content with forsaking the true God, have 
created for tliemselves false gods, have made 
images like to man ; and, going still farther, 
they worship beasts, birds, and even creeping 
things. 

Not far from the temple-wall, whose large 
stones are shattered by the cannon-balls of 
former wars, is an English burial-ground. Here, 
under the shadow, as it were, of an idol shrine, 
lie gallant officers, young wives, and tender 
babes. It was a saddening, sobering scene. 
Far from the home of infancy, far from loving 
hearts, they had laid down and died in a strange 
land. Their ashes rest within the battlements 
of the stronghold of the fearful Hyder Ali, and 
deadly serpents wind among the stones that 
mark their burial-place. Little matters it that 
the sun of torrid India parches and glares upon 
the earth above their mouldering bodies, if they 
entered into the rest of the people of God. 

In the afternoon we went through the town, 
which contains some eight or nine thousand in- 
habitants, preaching and giving tracts, and we 
were very well received. The conduct of the 



THE PEOPLE. 227 



people was marked by an unusual degree of 
politeness, and all seemed desirous that mis- 
sionaries should come and settle among them. 
In the centre of the town is a very large and 
beautiful tank, with nights of stone steps 
reaching down each of its four sides. Here 
we sat beneath the shade of a banian-tree, and 
spoke to the people with great satisfaction. 
Gladly would we have tarried longer with 
them, but we had only an additional day to 
spend in Arnee. My heart w T as much pained 
for one poor creature, a man, who came to us 
for medical aid. His cheek was eaten out by 
cancer, so that we could only tell him that he 
must die, and bid him look to the Lord Jesus 
for salvation. It was most sad to look into 
his anxious eyes and upon his hopeless face, 
worn with pain, and care, and sorrow, and tell 
him he must die — die amid heathenism, with 
none to point him to the way of life. If there 
were a missionary to lead his hopeless, dark, 
besotted soul to the Saviour, w r e could be con- 
tent. But he must die untaught ! Do you 
wonder that missionaries never cease to cry 
for men to come forth and spread the gospel? 
What can they do but continually cry, "the 
harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few." 



228 POLICE AMEEN. 



The Police Ameen, an aged and crafty 
Brahmin, in compliance with the directions 
of Mr. B., called upon us to give us informa- 
tion as to the towns. He came with several 
attendants, and after answering our queries as 
to statistics, engaged in a long discussion on 
religion with Mr. S. The old man was evi- 
dently a worldling, caring little for heaven or 
hell, and probably received but little good. 
But many persons who had come to us for 
medicine, books, or instruction, listened with 
great earnestness and, we may trust, with 
profit. 

At Arnee we found the bandy, which had 
been despatched before our start from Madras, 
with our tent and boxes of books and tracts. 
We now dismissed half of our bearers, as we 
were to go by easy stages from village to vil- 
lage ; and on Saturday evening left the fort for 
Coonatoor, a small town four miles distant. Our 
road lay directly toward the hills in the west, 
which were sharp, craggy masses of granite, 
running up into pointed or conical peaks, and 
quite uninhabited. These hills stand amid 
level plains, entirely devoted to the culture of 
grain. Our road lay through a succession of 
rice-fields, from which the poor half-clad ryot 




Woman with water-chatty. 



C00NAT00R. 229 



might be seen going home with his plough 
upon his shoulder — a light wooden stick, with 
a pointed coulter tipped with iron. Here and 
there was a hamlet with its little temple, some- 
times no larger than a dog-kennel; and in one 
village we passed a poor Granesha of stone, 
with his vehicle, the rat, before him, but with- 
out a shelter for his bare elephant-head. 



We reached Coonatoor, a town with a thousand 
inhabitants, just at dusk, and pitched our tent 
amid some tamarind-trees on the edge of the 
village tank. Our bearers, released from 
labour, clustered merrily around their fire, at a 
little distance from us, and cooked their curry ; 
while troops of women from the town passed 
our tent, with their water-jars upon their 
head, and descending to the tank, Rebecca- 
like, drew water for their households. In the 
accompanying illustration, we have a Hindu 
female bearing her vessel to the well for water. 
In her right hand she carries a rope for the 
purpose of lowering the vessel, when the water 



230 COONATOOR. 



is drawn from a well or deep tank. From 
her nose hangs a ring, others are in her ears, 
and a necklace around her neck; and on her 
wrist she wears bangles, a kind of bracelet. 
Her arm is marked below the shoulder with 
sacred ashes, in honour of the god Siva. 

Men, boys, women, and girls, with one accord, 
united in gazing with astonished curiosity at 
the strange apparition of two white men with 
their attendants upon the banks of their re- 
tired tank. It was too late to preach: we 
therefore got our tea — nowhere more refreshing 
than amid the langour and exhaustion of an 
Indian journey — and after bathing, spread our 
palankeen mattresses upon the ground, and 
slept undisturbed, except by the intrusion of 
half-starved dogs, searching for any thing 
worth carrying off. 

Long before sunrise, the little birds in the 
tamarind-trees waked us with their morning 
song. Already the women were coming to the 
tank for water, and the men gathered round, 
curious to watch our movements. Our toilet 
duties and morning devotions seemed equally 
interesting to them ; and, as we had only the 
upper covering of a tent without its walls, we 
were fully open to observation. Our break- 



A PETITIONER. 231 



fast, too, eaten from the little camp-table, 
■with the mysterious tea-pot, knives and forks, 
was an affair most astonishing. 

Before eight o'clock, our mats were spread 
upon the ground as seats for auditors, our 
Tamil and Telugu tracts arranged on the 
table, and the preaching commenced. Suc- 
cessive companies seated themselves upon the 
mats or stood around, and heard exposures of 
idolatry and the publication of the atonement 
of Christ as the only remedy for sin-sick souls. 
The spiritual head of the Mohammedans re- 
ceived a New Testament in Hindustani, for 
which he begged most earnestly. A very 
handsome and interesting Mohammedan sepoy, 
who was conveying government money, begged 
for one also. He was told that we had but 
two or three, and could not give them there, as 
we wished to reserve them. In the after- 
noon, he came again, and pleaded so earnestly 
and affectingly that we could not refuse his 
request. When, with apparent sincerity, he 
asked us how we could answer to God for not 
giving him a book to teach him the way to 
heaven, we could no longer hold out, and he 
bore the sacred volume away in triumph. 

In the afternoon, we had a visit from the 



232 DISCUSSION. 



chief men of the place, three Mohammedans 
and five Brahmins. They were received cour- 
teously and seated honourably in the centre 
of the tent, while an attentive crowd sat and 
stood around to listen to the discussion be- 
tween their great men and the white padres. 
After an exchange of compliments, the subject 
of religion — a subject always in order with the 
Hindus — was introduced. One of the Brah- 
mins, a man swollen with pride and self-suf- 
ficiency, made himself chief speaker. The 
discussion was long, close, keen, and exciting 
to both parties, but, on the whole, the Brahmin 
stood it well. "We cannot wonder that their 
anger is stirred at the exposure of the gods 
whom they teach the people to worship, and 
at being told that the idols by whose sanctity 
they live are but stones ; that all their good 
works are vanity and folly; and that they 
themselves, who put themselves scarce below 
divinity, must come as miserable sinners to 
sue for mercy through the merits of a crucified 
Saviour. If we would argue, as they propose, 
that each way is good for its own believers, 
they would be perfectly satisfied; but for 
them to come to Christ for salvation, is more 
than they can endure to think of. " Do not 



CAMAKOOR. 233 



say that, or I shall be angry," said the proud 
Brahmin; yet it was said many times. For 
these pharisaical priests there is but little 
hope ; but it is a great point gained when the 
poor people, who are bound by their false 
teachings, see their guides confuted and si- 
lenced by the simple Word of God. 

Sunrise, the next morning, found us with our 
tent pitched in the neighbouring village of 
Camakoor, a little village of five hundred in- 
habitants, with ten temples. We pitched our 
tent in a beautiful spot, between the large 
temple and the tank, in a space surrounded by 
shade trees,* and spent two days preaching 
with much satisfaction to the simple country- 
folk. Before our tent was up, we were sur- 
rounded by half the men and boys of the town, 
who gazed with unbounded satisfaction upon 
our every movement. From the washing of 
our hands and faces onward, each act was full of 
interest to these untravellecl villagers. When 
Mr. S. drew out his watch, a group of boys, 
encouraged by his friendly jokes with them, 
came near to look at it. Opening it, he 
showed its wheels and motion to them, and 



* See frontispiece. 
20* 



234 CHRISTIAN IDOLATRY. 



let them hear its ticking. "Oh! it goes ! it 
goes !" they cried out. " Yes," answered Mr. 
S., u my watch goes, but your god in the 
temple out there cannot go!" This thought 
struck them very forcibly, and doubtless was 
more effectual than volumes of argument would 
have been. 

Some of them had seen a " Matha Covil," or 
"mother temple," as the Roman Catholic 
churches are called, from the worship of the 
Virgin Mary as mother of God, and supposing 
them to be places of Christian worship, they 
wanted to know, with much simplicity, why 
we decried idolatry. "You too," they said, 
" worship the cross, draw cars, ring bells, burn 
candles, &c." "But," they were asked, "if a 
Pariah should put on the Brahminic thread, 
rub ashes on his forehead, and come to you, 
saying, 4 I am a Brahmin,' would you receive 
him as a Brahmin ?" " No, indeed !" " Then, 
if men walk contrary to the Christian Veda, 
(Scriptures,) shall we call them Christians? 
Look at the commandments of God in our 
Bible." The second commandment was quite 
satisfactory to them ; but to us it was a sorrow- 
ful thing to find the gospel thus misrepresented 
among the heathen. It is a difficulty, how- 



HINDU WEAVING. 235 



ever, 'which you meet with everywhere in 
India. 

While we spoke to the people, my attention 
was attracted to a knot of simple countrymen, 
apparently strangers. They sat together on 
the mat, listening to all that was said, and 
nodding to one another their approval of the 
truth. "It is all true! all true !" said they. 
" If we were rid of the Brahmins, we might go 
over, but they can crush whomsoever they 
please." This, alas ! is too true; and multitudes 
are restrained from embracing Christianity by 
this fear of priestly power. 

While we were thus engaged, a party of the 
villagers were busily employed, within a few 
paces of us, in getting up warp for the weaver's 
loom. Warping mills being unknown to the 
Hindu, this, as all other mechanical operations, 
is effected by unaided labour. A number of 
small stakes are fixed a few feet apart, along a 
distance of some forty yards, and the thread is 
carried between the stakes by the warpers 
running round and round them with their 
spindles till the work is clone. The warp is 
dressed with congey, a paste of boiled rice. 
The weaving is almost as simple an operation 
as the preparation of the warp. The loom is 



236 CALUMBOOR. 



suspended from the rafters of the weaver's 
dwelling ; the operator usually sits on the 
ground, with his legs in a hole dug under the 
loom, where his toes are usefully employed in 
managing the cords attached to the work. 
With a rude machine, costing, with all its ap- 
purtenances, but a half dollar or dollar, seated 
on the ground of his clay-built hut, the Hindu 
weaver produces fabrics of wonderful fineness 
and elegance, that once were the admiration of 
the world. Now, however, the great cheapness 
of the goods made by the aid of machinery and 
steam in Europe and America, has diminished 
the demand for Indian cloths abroad, and even 
threatens in India itself to drive the laborious 
Hindu from** competition with his more inge- 
nious competitors. 

From this place we made an afternoon visit 
to Calumboor, a town of two thousand inhabit- 
ants. As our time was short, we walked 
through the streets, telling the people to meet 
us at the mundapam, the stone portico usual in 
Hindu villages. By the time that we had 
made our circuit and got to the rest-house 
again, a large audience was assembled. We 
sat down on the stone floor, with the elders of 
the town seated before us, and the multitude 



BLIND PHILOSOPHER. 237 



standing or sitting behind them. The oracle 
of the place "was a man horn blind. By birth, 
he "was a mechanic, but his lack of sight led 
him to study, of course through his ears alone ; 
and now he was the learned man and philoso- 
pher of Calumboor. He sat upon our right 
hand, and by his side the head Brahmin of the 
town, a fat, merry-faced fellow, the very image 
of good nature. 

When all were silent, our errand was made 
known, and the system and practice of Hindu- 
ism tested by reason and the writings of their 
own philosophers, who saw the folly of poly- 
theism and idolatry, though they could show no 
true way of salvation. Verse after verse from 
the Tamil poets was quoted, ridiculing idols as 
but stone, proclaiming the vanity of washing 
in sacred streams to cleanse the soul, and 
maintaining the sinfulness of worshipping more 
than one God. As each sentiment was ad- 
vanced and defended, " True! true!" said the 
blind philosopher, and from his well-stored 
memory, he called up and recited other quota- 
tions to the same effect. Thus each argument 
was enforced by their own teacher, whose word 
none ventured to gainsay. "But," said the 
philosopher, " thus the world goes : it is full 



A POSSESSED TREE. 



of vanity and sin ! Tell us what is truth ! 
what can we do?" The gospel plan of salva- 
tion was then unfolded to them, and they 
were shown how God could be just and yet 
justify sinners, since his own Son had de- 
scended to earth to suffer in their stead. To 
this not a word was objected. Even the 
Brahmin applauded all that was said, and 
expressed the earnest wish that, if we came 
into the country, we would "settle in their 
town. 

Next came a rush by the crowd for books. 
With some difficulty, by appealing to their 
politeness, we made men and boys sit down, 
and, distributing our store, departed well 
pleased with our short visit to Calumboor, with 
its blind philosopher, good-humoured Brahmin, 
and attentive people, and with the opportunity 
thus afforded to preach the gospel in idolatrous 
India. 

Observing, on our return, a small palmyra- 
tree hung all over with rags, we inquired what 
it meant. This tree, they said, is the residence 
of the " cloth-rending goddess," and all who 
pass tear a shred from their robes to throw as 
an offering to her. The belief that trees are 
the residence of supernatural beings is very 



EXORCISM. 239 



prevalent in Southern India. Devils, especially, 
are supposed to have their abode in them. 
When a person is, as they believe, possessed 
of a devil, and foams and raves under its influ- 
ence, his friends call an exorcist to cast the 
devil out. The exorcist, with prayers, signs, 
and various incantations, drives the spirit from 
the body of the possessed, leads it (as he af- 
firms) to the tree, and, taking a nail, drives it 
into the trunk, thus nailing it to its prison- 
house. Should the tree be cut down, the 
devils, they believe, will escape, and entering 
the body of the disturber of their peace, do 
him some painful, if not fatal, injury. 

During the remainder of our stay at Cama- * 
koor, we had an unbroken succession of 
visitors. As we had medicines with us, mo- 
thers came with their sick children, the blind 
were lead to us for healing, and the lame 
wished their limbs restored to them again. 
We could do but little for them ; yet it was a 
satisfaction to do that little, and to exhort 
them to seek a better portion than this world. 

As the day wore on, people began to come 
into the town, to attend the market or fair 
held each Tuesday, — some with bundles hung 
on their arms, some with packages upon their 



240 VILLAGE-FAIR. 



heads, and others with bullocks loaded with 
their goods. As our tent was standing upon 
the spot used by them for the exhibition of 
their wares, Aye struck it and moved to the 
mundapam, (for these stone porch-like rest- 
houses are found in almost every village and 
town,) and left the green to the people. 
Here our audiences were increased by the 
many strangers collected by the fair, so that 
we could scarce manage to eat. While Mr S. 
made a hasty meal, I kept the people : we then 
exchanged places, and he preached while I eat. 
It is difficult to decide which was the most 
attractive to the assembly — his eloquence or 
my humble meal ; certainly the spectators 
seemed as deeply interested as the auditors. 
I could not but smile, as I stood by the palan- 
keen taking my tea and toast, (the latter made 
in Madras before our setting out,) at the ad- 
miring gaze of the multitude, who probably for 
the first time saw a real doorey take his food. 

When we left them, the scene was a very 
pleasant one. The round plot of ground be- " 
tween the tank and the temple was filled by 
concentric circles of sellers, with their goods 
piled or spread before them. Here would be 
a heap of white cloth, in pieces proper for 



VAREY-PUXTHAL. 241 



dresses ; there, others dyed yellow, purple or 
green, to suit the tastes of the women ; in an- 
other place, the Mack, course cumbleys, or 
blankets, made of hair; in another, Madras 
handkerchiefs, &c. The buyers went debating 
and chaffering through the circles, strenuously 
raising their voices in their efforts to lower the 
sellers' prices. All was life, bustle, and anima- 
tion under the stately shade-trees, through 
whose foliage the afternoon sun glanced bright 
rays of light on the busy crowd below. But 
our tent was packed, and every thing was 
ready for a move ; so, bidding farewell to Cama- 
koor and its fair- day, we jolted off to the 
music of our bearers' " Ho ! ho ! Hay ! hay?" 
toward our next stopping-place. 



Dull must be the heart, and cold the 
sensibilities of the traveller, who can pass 
through the villages and over the plains of 
India, without a kindling of joy at the scenes 
through which he journeys, and of sympathy for 
the poor villagers who till these fields. Though 



242 THE MORNING. 



he sees many a barren waste, with scarce a 
blade of grass to conceal its nakedness, or a 
shrub to screen the huge ant-hills, with, it may 
be a solitary palm, adding to the sense of deso- 
lation, and though ignorance and vice, idolatry 
and poverty, are perennial dwellers in every 
town, the picture is not all dark. 

There are fair spots in torrid India, and 
among its people there are joyous faces and 
kindly feelings. He who has seen India only 
in its crowded and corrupt cities, in its sea- 
ports and its courts, knows little of the masses 
scattered through the country. The visitor of 
the villages, though he finds much, very much, 
to make his heart sad and his soul faint for 
the sins of the people, yet finds a light as well 
as a shade to the picture. 

The cawing of the crows waked us at an 
early hour on the morning after our arrival at 
the mundapam of Varey-punthal, (the arbour 
of bananas ;) but already were many of the 
creatures of God rejoicing in the morning 
light. Bright green parroquets were flitting 
with screams of joy from bough to bough 
in the grove on our right, and there, too, was 
the gentle cooyil, with its soft, murmuring note, 
expressing its more quiet happiness. Pools 



A WORLDLING. 243 



of clear water stood in the sandy bed of the 
river, in front of our rest-house, which was a 
simple room of solid granite blocks, enclosed 
upon three sides, with the fourth open, except- 
ing the pillars by which the roof was supported. 
On the ceiling, also formed of slabs of granite, 
was carved a clear illustration of the Hindu 
theory of eclipses, in the shape of a huge ser- 
pent swallowing the moon. On our left stood 
a heathen temple. 

On arising, my choice would have been to 
have first gone through with some slight ablu- 
tions, but my congregation was assembled ; and 
though they were uninvited, it did not seem 
right to postpone making known to them the 
truth, for washings. A middle-aged man, of 
portly stature — his stout person showing some 
relish for the good things of this life — after 
listening with the others, said, " This is all 
very fine about not sinning, not lying, and so 
forth; but if we do not lie, how are we to get 
our living ? Tell me that ! To live ! that is 
the thing ! And to live, you must lie !" And 
then he turned contemptuously away, well 
content to hear %io more about forsaking sin. 

The sun grew hot, and the air oppressive, 
and I lay down a while to rest, while my friend 



244 SIMPLE VILLAGERS. 



continued his instructions, and gave to appli- 
cants books in Tamil and Telugu. But it was 
not an easy matter to have any retirement, as 
the people crowded around us, and stared 
most assiduously. I accordingly retreated to 
the grove, and sat down at the foot of a spread- 
ing tree. Fatigued with speaking for hours, 
Mr. S. followed me, and sat down to rest a 
while in the grateful shade. But the crowd was 
not to be deprived of its entertainment. The 
people followed him, and presently they were 
seated in a group upon the ground, arranged 
in a semicircle, of which we were the centre. 
We should have been glad to have been re- 
lieved of our eminence, and, ceasing to be lions, 
have relapsed into commonplace personages ; 
-but that could not be. Resigning ourselves, 
therefore, to our distinction, we entered into 
conversation with these simple villagers, who 
now became quite sociable. 

After telling them something of our own 
country, of its fruits and seasons, we asked 
them as to their circumstances. This led to 
the unburdening of a sore complaint, though 
in a good-humoured way, of the oppressive 
taxation by which they are ground to the 
earth. They said that between the half taken 



OPPRESSION. 245 



as tax by government, and the half snatched 
from them by Brahmins, in the shape of tak- 
sildars, sherishtadars, writers, &c, they had 
hard work to live ; that often they could not 
even get conjee, (rice-porridge,) and were fain 
to fill their stomachs from the tank. As for 
clothing, that was quite out of the question. 
If they wished to appeal to the collector, they 
had to approach him through these very per- 
sons of whom they wished to complain, who 
were always around him ; and so they would 
bring on themselves greater oppression. 
"Well," we said, "if you are so poor, why do 
you leave your work to sit and stare at us?" 
" Oh," answered one, " when the halkakta- 
doorey (collector) comes to take the assess- 
ment, he lives in his tent, and the Brahmins 
are about him, so that we poor people cannot 
get near him ; so we have all come to have a 
good look at you." 

Poor fellows ! they are kept in bondage, both, 
spiritually and physically, by their oppressors, 
the Brahmins. It is a common saying that, 
" government gets the grain and we get the 
straw." The outrageous system of bribery and 
peculation practised by almost every Hindu 
official, from the highest to the lowest, keeps 



246 MISSIONARIES NEEDED. 



them in the lowest stage of poverty consistent 
with living at all. 

Hearing the gospel once can usually be of 
but little avail with persons so degraded and 
mentally so blind as the mass of the Hindus. 
It should be followed up by a succession of im- 
pressions, that the effect be not lost. When 
missionaries thus go through the land, and see 
that nothing hinders the studding it with 
preachers of the truth but the want of men, 
they cannot but send home earnest entreaties 
that labourers may be sent into these perishing 
fields. Were men to come and dwell among 
them, so that they might be protected from the 
Brahmins if they forsook idolatry, there would 
be much reason for hoping that many of them 
would leave heathenism for Christianity. It 
is in this way that Christianity has spread in 
Tinnevelly and Madura, so that more than 
50,000 persons in those districts are under 
,the influence of missionaries and of gospel 
truth. 

Before leaving Varey-punthal, we walked 
through the town. The houses were out of re- 
pair, and many of them seemed going to ruin ; 
thus bearing witness to the inability of the 
people to support the burden of their taxes, 



THE BANIAN. 247 



and yet have enough to procure for themselves 
the comforts of life. 

It was refreshing to turn from the works of 
man to those of God. Attracted by a majestic 
banian-tree, we sat clown by its root. From 
the outstretching branches of the parent trunk 
of this peculiar and noble tree, long cord-like 
fibres grow until they reach the ground. 
Striking into the earth, these fibrous cords 
take root, and, becoming in their turn trunks, 
support the branch from which they grow, and 
thus extend the shade of the parent tree. 
Thus one tree becomes an assemblage of trunks, 
sustaining a spreading mass of foliage. Among 
the branches of the tree, a multitude of par- 
rots were sporting, full of life and joy; but at 
its root the work of man appeared again. In 
humiliating contrast with the arched and living 
pavilion above us, stood a temple not larger 
than a dog-kennel, and before it a stone with 
two images rudely carved upon its face : this 
was an object of worship ! a god ! It bore the 
marks of having been that day worshipped, for 
it had been anointed with oil and ornamented 
with flowers. How is human nature sunken ! 



248 PERUMANALOOR. 



It was near sunset when we entered the 
town of Perumanaloor, and a dreary, desolate 
spot it was. Our bearers picked their way 
cautiously and slowly through heaps of stones 
and rocky hillocks ; even the temples upon 
the craggy hills looked repulsively ruinous, 
and decay breathed in the silent air. The 
houses in sight were dilapidated ; every thing 
seemed to be falling to decay. 

Getting out of our palankeens, we began to 
look for a place in which to pitch our tent. 
One of the bearers entered a street more re- 
spectable than the others, to ask for informa- 
tion, when two or three young Brahmins, 
horror-struck that one of this low caste should 
pollute the street in which they lived with his 
impure presence, rushed out in a state of much 
excitement, and with insolent violence bade 
him begone immediately. Although we had 
not entered their street, for this turned out to 
be the agragrama, in which Brahmins alone 
live, and where low-caste men are not allowed 
to come, they cried out to us also, in the same 



INSOLENT BRAHMINS. 249 



insolent manner, to be gone, and not enter the 
street in which Brahmins dwelt. 

An older Brahmin, of much respectability, 
and with more knowledge of the changed state 
of India under British rulers, now came up to 
us. On Mr. S. telling him that such insulting 
and uncalled-for behaviour on the part of his 
young men was inexcusable, and ought to be 
reported to the collector, he apologized for 
them, saying, that no white gentleman had 
ever been in their town, and that these young 
men knew no better. He then showed us 
the way to the village grove and tank. The 
tank was in keeping with all that we had seen 
in this uninviting spot. It was a huge excava- 
tion, completely dry, with the exception of a 
large pit in the centre, at the bottom of which 
was a shallow pool of muddy water. This was 
the drinking water of the town. In our tum- 
blers it had the appearance of uncleared 
coffee. 

White men were a novelty, and a large com- 
pany of the villagers was soon around us. 
They seemed very happy, poor creatures, in 
looking at us and our movements, but the 
Brahmins were full of insolence. They told 
us that we could get nothing here, not even 



250 LOOKERS-ON. 



water ; and recommended, with a hypocritical 
anxiety for our welfare, that we should go to 
the next town, where, they told us, " the water 
was celestial" — a drink fit for gods. The op- 
presssed and simple people, as far as they 
dared, offered to bring us milk and all that 
their poor town would afford, and seemed 
quite delighted with the prospect of a good 
look at two white men with palankeens, table, 
chairs, and other wonderful things. Though 
the place presented few attractions, we decided 
not to give way to the insolence of the Brah- 
mins, but to stay, that these poor might have 
preached unto them the gospel's joyful sound. 

Our bandy, which had lost its way, now 
arrived, and we pitched our tent. This, with 
its tall central pole, its canvas roof, its cords 
and stakes, was a new source of wonder. Dark- 
ness had set in, and our lamp was lit ; but still 
the lookers-on continued standing or sitting 
around, in the most favourable positions for 
seeing every thing. They were apparently 
fearful lest they should miss seeing something 
of note, should they quit their posts for a 
moment. 

But at last even the most persevering gazer 
wearied, and left us to ask the blessine: of God 



A DISTURBANCE. 251 



upon this benighted and priest-ridden land, 
and to lie down to rest. Spreading our mat- 
tresses on the ground, we slept undisturbed, 
except by the intrusion of stray dogs from the 
town, the hooting of owls, and the melancholy 
howling of packs of jackals wandering in 
search of food. 

With the first gray dawn of morning we 
were up, but we were not early enough to 
anticipate the gathering of an audience. I 
wished to read, but had to give it over to speak 
to the people who were assembled in and 
about the tent. They sat down on the ground 
around me, and listened attentively for some 
time, when suddenly, in the midst of our dis- 
course, a Brahmin, rushing up with furious 
gesticulations, roared out, that our pariah 
cook had entered the agragrama, (the Brah- 
minic street;) he demanded, with many threats, 
that the sinful wretch should be immediately 
beaten. 

^The poor cook, on finding out what he had 
done, hacL fled to the tent, and now sheltered 
himself behind us, trembling with fear, and de- 
claring his ignorance of its being a Brahmin 
street. Of course, we refused to give him up 
for punishment. On this the rage of the 



252 ILL-BEHAVIOUR. 



Brahmin increased ; he ordered us to pull up 
our stakes, strike our tent, and be gone from 
the place. On our declining also to do this, he 
went away with loud threats, and, as he said, 
to bring the taliari (village watchman) to give 
the cook his beating. We did not, however, see 
him again. As his violence had not frightened 
us into any concession, he probably concluded 
that discretion would be the better part of 
valour. 

During the day, the common people heard 
our discourse with much attention. They also 
brought many sick persons for medicine and 
healing, to whom we gave such assistance as we 
could ; but the shortness of our stay did not 
admit of the beginning of treatment in many 
cases. They seemed much impressed with what 
was done for them, but the Brahmins were very 
ill-behaved. At one time, some of them, stand- 
ing behind me while preaching, tore up two of 
our tracts, and threw the fragments over my 
head, much to the disgust of the more decent 
part of the audience. Of this we took no no- 
tice ; but when the same men asked again for 
books, and behaved with increasing rudeness, 
we called our bearers and made them clear the 
tent. This they did with much willingness, 



ROMANCE AND REALITY. 253 



for the insolence of the Brahmins had aroused 
their anger. After this we had our few feet 
of territory to ourselves. 

We now retreated to our palankeens and lay 
down ; hut these box-like abodes were insup- 
portable with the thermometer at 102 °, and 
we had to come out and submit to the ceaseless 
gaze of the people. 

Permit me here to observe to the reader, that 
although dwelling in a tent under the shade of 
an Indian grove, beside a village tank, with 
palankeens and bearers for conveyance, and 
dusky Hindus and lordly Brahmins standing 
as a background to the picture, may sound 
romantic and delightful, it is a life that has its 
reality too. A tent, without walls to keep out 
the scorching land-wind and the reflected glare 
of a torrid sun, is but a poor residence for the 
exotic from the temperate zone. Nor does 
water of the thickness of chocolate seem sweet, 
even though from a "tank." Moreover, the 
ceaseless stare of a crowd, (to whom you cannot 
be always preaching,) from the time you rise 
until you retire at night, even though no act 
of discourtesy is committed, becomes very 
trying. 

Yet it is a high privilege to be permitted to 



254 ROMANCE AND REALITY. 



bear witness for Christ before the heathen. It 
stirs your gratitude to look upon these idolaters, 
and remember that you are a worshipper of the 
one true God, and that Christ the Saviour is 
your chosen King ; and, while it calls upon you 
to praise the Lord for his distinguishing grace 
to you, it quickens your desire that these de- 
graded men may be raised by the gospel from 
their wretched estate into the glorious liberty 
of the sons of God. 

In this place, at Arnee, and scattered through 
the neighbouring country, you meet with a 
peculiar class of religionists, called Jains or " 
Jainas. While at Perumanaloor, we had a visit 
from the shastiri or spiritual leader of the sect. 
In a long discussion, he defended the tenets of 
their faith and practice, especially the sinful- 
ness of taking any life of beast, bird, or insect, 
— the eternal existence of the world, — that God 
is the origin of sin and holiness, — and, finally, 
that all religions were the same. This last is 
a very convenient doctrine when you cannot 
defend your own religion, and one constantly 
advanced in India. A brief account of this 
Hindu sect may not be uninteresting to some 
of our readers. 



255 



The Jainas are the Budhists of India. They 
are followers of the religion, in a modified form, 
which now is believed, in Ceylon, Siam, Bur- 
mah, Thibet, Tartary, and very extensively in 
China, Co chin- China, and Japan. It is, at the 
present day, one of the most extensively re- 
ceived religions in the world. 

The Jainas of India maintain that theirs is 
the primitive and orthodox faith of Hindustan. 
Originally, they say, Brahminism was not the 
religion of India ; but the Brahmins have left 
the practices of the ancients, having introduced 
false gods, superstitious forms, and abominable 
modes of worship. They reject the religious 
books of the Brahmins, the incarnations of the 
god Vishnu, and the worship of animals. This 
follo^vs from their belief that God. cannot be- 
come incarnate or take on him a fleshly body. 
As they hold it to be a sin to take life under 
any circumstances, they consider the sacrifice 
of animals, as of goats and fowls by the Hindus 
of other sects, to be an act of horrible impiety. 
Such sacrifices they view with abhorrence. 

They believe that there is one Supreme Be- 



256 BUDHISM. 

ing, who is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, but 
utterly indifferent to the good or bad deeds of 
men. He alone, they say, is to be worshipped. 
In practice, however, they are idolaters, wor- 
shipping images, not of God, but of deified men. 
They do this upon the ground that these men 
having, by attaining perfect holiness, been freed 
from their material bodies, have become a part 
of the Supreme God by union with his essence. 
To worship them, therefore, is to worship God. 

In a village near Seringapatam, where is the 
most famous of the Jaina temples, there is a 
colossal statue of Gautama, the last of those 
who have attained godship, which has been cut 
from the solid rock upon the face of a hill. It 
is in the form of a naked man of gigantic pro- 
portions. Being some seventy feet in height, 
and standing upon an elevation, it is visible for 
miles around. Great multitudes of Jainas resort 
to it for worship. 

The term Budh, or Boodh, or Budda merely 
expresses the idea of divinity. Budhists, all 
over the world, so far as they worship any thing, 
worship Gautama, or Gaudama, as it is variously 
written. 

He was son of the king of Behar in Northern 
India, and lived six hundred years before the 



HINDU ACCOUNT. 257 



birth of Christ. According to the accounts of 
his followers, he had lived before this birth in 
millions of shapes, having been born succes- 
sively as fowl, fish, beast, insect, and roan, in 
innumerable shapes and conditions. His last 
birth, after having attained to immense holi- 
ness in previous n^des of existence, was as the 
son of this king. Having given his instructions 
to his followers, he was received into the Deity 
at about eighty years of age, and is now wor- 
shipped, by millions in various lands, as the last 
Budh. 

The Hindus of the Brahminic faith say that 
Budh is an incarnation of their god Vishnu. 
According to the account given me by a learned 
munshi, certain men had attained to immense 
religious merit by practising abstinence, auste- 
rities, penances, and mediation. At last, the 
merit of these holy men became so great, that 
it bade fair soon to exceed that of the gods. In 
such a case, they could, in virtue of this merit, 
dethrone Indra, the king of heaven, and rule in 
his stead. Fearful of such a catastrophe, the 
inferior gods besought Vishnu to save them. 
Vishnu, accordingly, descended to earth, ap- 
peared as Budh, taught these men a false reli- 
gion, and so destroyed all their merit and their 



258 JAINA VIEWS. 



power. The orthodox Hindus, therefore, will 
not worship Budh. 

"But," I inquired of the munshi, "will you 
worship the lying Vishnu, who thus appeared 
on earth to deceive men, and destroy their vir- 
tue by teaching them a false religion?" "Oh 
yes," said he; " of course wf- will." Upon my 
trying to make him see the wretchedness of 
such a god, and the worthlessness of such wor- 
ship, he seemed quite incapable of discovering 
any thing out of the way in doing evil that good 
might come. It is painfully true of the Hindus 
that, "professing themselves to be wise, they 
have become fools;" for "when they knew 
God, they glorified him not as God, neither 
were thankful, but became vain in their ima- 
ginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." 

The Jainas do not hold the doctrines of Budh 
in a pure state. They have mingled with them 
Brahminic views. They say that sanyasees, 
or holy men, having mortified their appetites 
and passions, become completely insensible to 
pleasure or pain, to hunger, thirst, or any want. 
Their souls, freed from earthly pollution, rest 
upon God in unbroken contemplation. Finally, 
the body dissolving, or evaporating like camphor 
when heated, returns to the elements, and the 



RELIGIOUS WAR. 259 



soul, returning to God from whence it sprung, 
becomes a part of his essence. * 

At present, however, none attain to such a 
pitch of holiness. The soul, released by death, 
is born again, either into a better or worse con- 
dition, according as the life has been good or 
bad. So again, and again, and again, the same 
soul may live ten million times on earth — now a 
dog, next a man or bird. Some, however, pass 
at once to heaven or hell. 

The heavens, according to this system, are 
sixteen, graduated, according to the merit of 
the soul, from a thousand to thirty-three thou- 
sand years of bliss. The hells also, seven in 
number, vary in the length and degree of suf- 
fering. 

The religious tenets of the Brahmins having 
been adopted by the great mass of the Hindus, 
the Jainas say that they took the attitude of 
Protestants against these innovations. They 
withdrew and formed a separate body. The 
hatred and strife of the two sects at last re- 
sulted in a bloody and long-continued war. The 
Jainas were everywhere defeated, and then per- 
secuted. Many of them fled to other countries, 
carrying their religion with them. The rest 
yielded to the ruling party. At the present 



260 JATNAS. 

day they exercise no power beyond their own 
sect. Their temples have been broken down, 
their idols destroyed, and, except a remnant, 
they have been swallowed up in the mass of 
Hinduism. 

In Southern India, there are still quite large 
bodies of them living in their own villages, with 
their own shastiris and gurus, (religious teach- 
ers,) maintaining their protest against Brahmin- 
ism. Their hatred of their enemies, though 
powerless, is often bitter, nor is it unreturned. 
They are generally tradesmen, mechanics, and 
farmers. 

In many of their customs they do not differ 
from other Hindus ; but in their horror of 
taking life, they exceed even the Brahmins. 
Not only do they abstain from eating all kinds 
of meat, but also from some kinds of vegetables, 
lest they should kill the insects often found in 
them. Before scouring their floors, they sweep 
them lightly with a soft broom, so as to spare 
the lives of fleas and other insects with which 
their houses are usually well stocked. Even 
scorpions, snakes, and mosquitos must not be 
injured, no matter how blood-thirsty or annoy- 
ing in their propensities. 

Our friend, the shastiri of Perumanaloor, 



FALSE RELIGION. 261 



having accused us of the crime of taking the 
life of animals, the accusation was returned 
upon himself; he was told that he slew multi- 
tudes of living creatures every day. This he 
denied, asserting that he took the life of no 
living thing. "Do you not drink water?" he 
was asked; "if you do, you slay your thou- 
sands." "No! no!" answered the Shastiri, 
"I always have my water strained before I 
drink it, so as to remove any insects that may 
be in it." When he was told of the wonders 
revealed by the microscope, and of the myriads 
of creatures sporting in a cup of water, too 
small to be seen or arrested by strainers, he 
knew not what to say. 

It will be evident at a glance, that their sys- 
tem, by making it as sinful to kill a chicken as 
to rob a house, confounds the distinction of 
right and wrong. Watchful of the lives of 
cockroaches and scorpions, they lie without 
shame or sense of sin. Their religion makes 
them self-righteous and proud, without enno- 
bling their motives or cleansing their hearts. 
Christianity alone goes deeper, and, by pro- 
viding a propitiation for sin, and basing favour 
with God on true holiness of heart, shows the 
burdened conscience how it may find peace, and 



262 WANBIWASIL 

fosters purity in the soul. Christianity alone 
is from Grod; it alone bears the marks of a 
divine original. 



In the midst of a wide-spread and fertile 
plain, dotted over with villages, stands the 
town of Vantha-vasi, commonly called, by the 
English, Wandiwash. It is known to history 
as the scene of a battle between the French and 
the English, in which the latter were victorious, 
and in which the native troops on both sides 
abstained from fighting. With remarkable 
wisdom, they concluded that it was not worth 
while for them to shed their blood in a contest 
to decide whether they should have- Englishmen 
or Frenchmen for. their masters. By us it is 
remembered as the place of a few days' delight- 
ful sojourn, while making known the truth to 
polite and intelligent companies of Hindus. 

If it was satisfactory to us to get within the 
walls of a bungalow, and to be able to turn aside 
to read a chapter in the Bible, and pray in a 
private room, it seemed equally satisfactory to 



PUT OFF THY SHOES. 263 



the bungalow servants to enjoy the rare privi- 
lege, in this secluded spot, of having some one 
to wait upon. Our arrival threw them into a 
state of immense excitement, and our few wants 
were supplied with great speed ; one of them 
especially, running to bring us the oriental 
luxury of a jar of water for bathing, as' if it 
were to save his life. 

The old fort is now in ruins, but bears evi- 
dence of having been built with great expendi- 
ture of Hindu labour. The view of the villages 
around, from the ramparts, was very pleasing, 
and in our walks about Wandiwash our favour- 
able impressions were confirmed. It is com- 
posed of a collection of clusters of houses, each 
cluster mostly inhabited by one caste ; and is 
surrounded with fields of rice, Indian grains, 
and indigo. In a pleasant grove, with its in- 
dispensable tank, the monkeys were skipping 
from branch to branch among the trees, quite 
at home in their undisturbed quarters, while 
minas and other birds flitted about or chat- 
tered and quarrelled on the ground. We were 
reminded in one of our walks of the command 
to Moses, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, 
for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground," (Ex. iii, 5,) by the respectful behaviour 



264 AGRICULTURE. 



of the taliari, (watchman.) On seeing us ap- 
proach, he drew off to one side of the road, and 
slipped off his sandals, stood reverently shoe- 
less until we had passed, when he resumed his 
sandals and went on his way. The putting off 
of the shoes is universally practised in India as 
a mark of respect. Should a Hindu enter your ' 
house with them on, it would be an evident at- 
tempt to treat you disrespectfully, or to presume 
upon your ignorance of Eastern manners. 

The country about Wandiwash is finely 
adapted to agriculture, and indigo, rice, and 
other grains are cultivated largely. Good go- 
vernment and true morality among the people 
only are needed to give prosperity and happi- 
ness to the inhabitants. Without these they 
must be poor. Yet, happily, the wants of the 
Hindu are few and his patience great.' God 
tempers trials even to his enemies. With his 
blessing, the Indian cultivator of the soil would 
be rich upon what would be poverty to the 
European or American farmer. Their agricul- 
ture is laborious, as every thing is done by 
hand ; but it is perseveringly and carefully 
prosecuted. In the illustration (which is copied 
from a native drawing) we have one man beat- 
ing out the grain by thrashing the rice-sheaves 



A MOUNTAIN SHRINE. 265 



against the floor, (a mode which I have not seen 
practiced,) while another fans it by pouring it 
from a basket in the open air. Two women on 
the right are busily pounding the grain in a 
mortar, to separate the chaff from the rice. 

On nearing Wancliwash, the attention of tra- 
vellers is arrested by a tall and rugged granite 
mountain, rising abruptly from the plain some 
two miles from the bungalow. We learned, 
upon inquiry, that it was a place of note, and 
at a certain festival the resort of a great mul- 
titude of pilgrims, who ascended and worshipped 
on its summit. The Hindus, like most' idolaters 
in ancient and modern times, deem themselves 
nearer to heaven on the mountain-top than in 
the plain. They reverence mountains and high 
hills as dwelling-places of the gods, and con- 
sider it a work of much merit to perform a pil- 
grimage to the temples which they build upon 
their summits. In some cases, they go farther, 
and consider the mountain itself to be a god. 

Although we were not encouraged to do so 
by the Brahmins, who do not wish the shrine 
to be visited by Europeans, we resolved to go 
to the mountain-top, and get a view of the 
country around. 

At three and a half o'clock in the morning, 



266 THE ASCENT. 

we arose, and went by moonlight to the foot of 
the mountain ; then, as the moon set, com- 
menced the ascent by starlight, with a guide. 
The way, which at first was not difficult, was 
soon made plain by the approaching dawn. 
Passing a small temple of Krishna, a favourite 
but vile incarnation of Vishnu, we ascended for 
some distance along an inclined plane made 
with slabs of stone. Beside this stone-paved 
way, was a watercourse of granite, bringing 
down water into a granite reservoir twelve feet 
in diameter and six feet deep. In the rainy 
season, this reservoir is filled ; and here pilgrims 
to the summit stop and bathe. Following the 
stone walk upward, we came to a saddle between 
two hills, which ended the first stage of the 
ascent. On the level space thus furnished, 
were shade-trees for the weary, a tank for re- 
freshment, a mundapam for rest, and a small 
temple for religious worship ; and what was the 
object of worship in this high place ? It was 
an image of one god ferociously ripping open 
the bowels of another ! 

Turning here to the right, we ascended the 
higher of the summits by steps, formed some- 
times with slabs of stone, sometimes cut from 
the solid rock. The whole hill is a mass of 



THE SUMMIT. 267 



granite, with a little shrubbery here and there 
in spots where the crumbled granite has made 
a little soil. Passing several tanks — some of 
which were natural cavities, others artificially 
cut in the side of the mountain — we gained the 
end of the second stage of the ascent. 

Now a perpendicular column of granite tow- 
ered above us, in some places split and cracked, 
and resembling a huge castellated fortress. 
Here we found a winding footpath, in some 
parts cut into fair, safe steps, but in others so 
smooth that we passed them on our hands and 
feet, lest we should slip and be precipitated 
below. The danger, however, is small, as the 
pathway has been made with much skill and 
labour. At last, passing a now-deserted tiger's 
lair, and stooping beneath a cleft rock, under 
which we mast go, emerging, and then ascend- 
ing a few narrow granite steps, we were at the 
summit, and in the portico of a small temple. 
This, with six other shrines, crowns the moun- 
tain. All are very small, and have been built 
with much ingenuity, resting, at different eleva- 
\ions, partly on pillars, and partly on levelled 
portions of the peak ; and all are dedicated to 
the same god — the elephant-headed Ganesha. 
Thus is this contemptible idol honoured and 



268 THE SUMMIT. 



adored, while God, the creator of mountains, 
worlds, and systems, is neglected and unknown 
by the creatures of his own hand. 

Every morning, a Brahmin ascends to per- 
form pujah, or worship, at these shrines with 
offerings of rice, flowers, and cocoanuts ; and 
in the evening, a pandarum (religious ascetic) 
goes up and lights a lamp before it. In the 
rock are cut large cavities to hold the oil and 
ghee (prepared butter) offered by the pilgrims 
who annually flock in thousands to the festival 
of this sacred place ; these offerings are carried 
off by the Brahmins. 

We reached the summit before sunrise, (hav- 
ing started thus early to avoid the fierce heat 
of the sun,) and had a fine view of the plain, 
spreading like a lake around us, broken here 
and there with a craggy granite hill, and with 
towns and tree-embowered villages scattered 
among its checkered fields. To the north, we 
could see the great temples of Conjeveram, 
thirty miles distant ; to the south, the moun- 
tains of Salem and Ginjee ; and to the east, a 
hill from which we might have looked upon our 
Madras homes. 

We made a map of the villages, with the help 
of our guide ; and having plucked some little 



WANDIWASH. 269 



flowrets as a memento of Wandiwash Mountain, 
with a heartfelt prayer that God would con- 
found these idols, and cast them to the ground, 
we began the descent. 

By half-after seven, we had reached the base 
of the mountain ; but even at this hour, the sun 
was oppressively hot, making the shelter of a 
roof very agreeable. 

We had fine audiences in the tent, which we 
had pitched in front of the bungalow. The 
people listened with attention, were intelligent, 
and very many of them could read. Their 
questions were so proper, and their behaviour 
so agreeable a contrast to that of our Brahmin 
friends at Perumanaloor, that we felt greatly 
pleased with the place and people. To each 
one that could read, we gave a copy of one of 
the Gospels, printed separately for distribution, 
and a small tract containing the substance of 
the Gospel in poetry and prose. 

Of poetry and singing, the Hindus are ex- 
tremely fond. No matter how noisy a crowd 
may be, the singing of a stanza will, at all times, 
command complete silence. When the preacher 
finds his audience inclined to invert the proper 
order, by making him listen, while ten or a 
dozen of them address him at the same time, he 



270 SATIRIC POETRY. 



can get a hearing, almost without fail, by intro- 
ducing quotations from their poets, sung in the 
Hindu style. Should some troublesome fellow 
interrupt him, the others will silence the inter- 
rupter, that they may not lose the poetry. This 
fact is a valuable one to the missionary. Among 
the Tamil classic poets, there are some who have 
written satires so keen and sarcasms so biting 
against the follies of idolatry and of Hinduism 
in all its shapes, that the missionary is ready 
furnished with the materials of war in a most 
telling shape. It may not be out of place to 
give a rude translation of an example or two, 
though the force of the original, lying much in 
the words and expressions, will not appear in 
a translation. Thus, on the subject of the 
worship of idols, one of their poets says — 

"Nartta kalley devam-endru nalu purtpam satiiyey 
Suttivanthumirnu-mirn endru sollu-manthiram eiharda" &c. 

Which may be rendered — 

The lifeless stone a god you call, and flowers in offering 

bring ; 
Around and round, -with muttering sound, fool ! many a 

prayer you sing ; 
But will the lifeless stone speak out ? Will God within 

it go ? 
Yes ! when the pot in which 'tis cooked the curry's taste 

shall know. 



SATIRIC POETRY. 271 



The ringing stone you cut and cleave, and from it gods you 

make ; 
The threshold-stone until 'tis gone with your base heels 

you scrape ; 
Flowers, ahd sacred ashes too, the god-stone gets each day ; 
Yet neither stone to the great God can any joy convey. 

Another of their poets, speaking of the 
worthlessness of rubbing holy ashes on the 
forehead, of ablutions in sacred rivers, of un- 
intelligible prayers, as a means of purifying 
the soul, or finding the true way to the heavenly 
shores, says — 

' 'Neetei-pwieui-thenna neer-ardap-jpoyenna nee-manamey," 
&c. 

That is— 

"Why ashes on thy forehead rub ? In sacred streams why 

bathe ? 
Thou knowest not the second birth, the way thou knowest 

not — knave ! 
Seven times ten million senseless prayers, oh what do they 

avail ? 
The stream to cross — the ford to find — your wandering 

footsteps fail. 

Generally, they take strictures upon their 
religion with a very good grace. There is one „ 
point, however, where our teaching becomes 
very offensive : it is when we get them clearly 
to see and feel that our meaning is, that ours 



272 A HARD DOCTRINE. 



is the only true religion. We preach, to them 
"No salvation out of Christ;" and that unless 
they receive him and his commandments they 
are lost. To them this seems in the highest 
degree illiberal; but we can have no liberality 
here. For any man to embrace a new religion 
they deem most sinful ; for them to do so, ab- 
surd. One Brahmin remarked, "You may 
preach as much as you please, but none of us 
will join the Christian church." They were 
much interested in the answer, that in God's 
Word it was foretold that all lands should sub- 
mit to Jesus Christ ; that in ancient times our 
own ancestors in Europe were idolaters, stupidly 
bowing down to gods of wood and stone, but 
that the preachers of the gospel had gone and 
made known to them the sinfulness of their 
ways ; and that though they rejected it at first, 
as the Hindus now do, that still it prevailed 
and filled the land; and, moreover, that in 
India multitudes were already throwing away 
their idols in Tinnevelly, Madura, and other 
districts. This to them was all new ; more es- 
pecially were they astonished at the story of 
savage and idolatrous Saxons and Britons being 
the ancestors of the present Christian rulers of 
India. 



A NEW FIELD. 273 



During the few days of our stay at Wandi- 
wash, we had a constant succession of visitors, 
some of whom came from villages at a distance, 
having heard of the arrival of "padres" with 
books and medicines. Some came to converse, 
some to get a book, some for medical advice, 
and all to have a look at the strangers. We 
also visited a few of the neighbouring hamlets. 

In one of these villages, visited toward the 
close of a sultry day, I was interested by the 
people saying that they had never seen a white 
man there before ; for the name of Jesus had 
probably never there been uttered. It was a 
town of some two hundred houses, of which 
half where of the Jaina sect; and, like most 
Hindu towns, beautifully shaded by trees 
planted about the houses. Entering the place 
on foot, I addressed some of the older men 
who were seated on the narrow verandahs of 
their houses. They suggested that we should 
go to the place where the people were accus- 
tomed to meet, near the house of the head-man 
of the village. We accordingly moved off to a 
spot where a great and widespreading tree had 
a square platform of stone built around its root. 
Here we found the head-man, with a number of 
others, sitting to talk over the events of the 



274 KIND RECEPTION. 



day. They immediately rose, and with much 
politeness requested me to be seated on the 
elevated platform, while they took their places 
in a semicircle on the ground before it. 

It was truly a high and holy privilege, not 
so much a duty as a luxury, thus to sit beneath 
the shade of the noble tree, and for the first 
time to tella group of interested hearers of 
the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. They 
listened most attentively, understood what was 
said, and behaved with a kind simplicity that 
delighted me. Deceitful, dishonest, and de- 
graded though they are, the villagers of South- 
ern India present a most pleasing contrast to 
the far more corrupt inhabitants of the great 
cities : to mingle with them is a pleasing duty 
to one accustomed to labour in the great city. 

One man only attempted to be troublesome, 
and he was immediately told by the others to 
hold his tongue, and not interrupt the gentle- 
man with his impertinent questions. They 
appeared anxious to hear all that I had to say. 
Like the shastiri of the Jainas at Perumana- 
loor, they had a difficulty to propose about the 
propriety of killing any living creature. When 
told of the multitudes of living creatures un- 
avoidably slain even by water-drinkers, and 



EVENING. 275 

asked why, if it were wrong, God had thus 
made it unavoidable, they were puzzled for an 
answer. 

After giving them tracts, I left them, pleased 
and cheered, and yet not without the painful 
consciousness that when they more clearly 
understood the claims of God, their hearts 
would rise up in rebellion against them. 

It was evening, and the little square rice- 
fields, separated by slight earth ridges, with 
their starting grain, the trees concealing the 
villages, and all nature around, seemed charm- 
ing. The mountain, surmounted by its tem- 
ples, stood out boldly against the sky, and the 
air though hot, was balmy and soft as the sun 
hid himself below the horizon. I could not 
but feel that even torrid, sultry, and now 
idolatrous India might, if blessed by the 
gospel, be a happy and a joyous land. 

Reaching the bungalow, quite exhausted 
with constant tbroat-work, my heart misgave 
me on finding the verandah full of people. 
But they must be talked to before they went 
away. At last they left us. It was now quite 
dark, and the Hindu devotee, who every even- 
ing climbs the mountain, had lit his fire before 
the idol upon its summit. Like a lurid star, it 



276 AN OPEN DOOR. 



twinkled in the sky, a daring insult to God, a 
homage paid to a senseless stone in the very 
sight of his visible heavens. Blessed be God 
that he will vindicate his high and holy name ; 
that he hath given to his Son the heathen for 
an inheritance, and the uttermost part of the 
earth for a possession ! 

Nowhere had I seen India in so pleasing an 
aspect, and never had I felt more anxious that 
preachers of the gospel should be scattered 
through the land. There are in this region 
hundreds and thousands of villages entirely 
open to the missionary, with none to let or 
make him afraid. The constant succession of 
large companies of hearers probably would not 
continue, but in all respects the field would be 
completely open and ready for the Christian 
labourer; not to reap the harvest at his en- 
trance upon the field, but to sow and water the 
seed, with the expectation of soon rejoicing in 
sheaves gathered into the garner of the Lord. 

Not the Sudras only, but some of the Brah- 
mins also, seemed to relish the keen exposures 
of heathenism which they heard from Mr. S. 
They listened in the best possible humour ; and 
when a difficulty raised was parried, or the 
light of truth disclosed the absurdity of their 



TRIVATOOR. 277 



ways of salvation, seemed as much delighted 
as though the system exposed was not that 
which they had been taught to hold sacred 
from their earliest years. Nor was it all 
negative work. Said one man, " You show us 
the folly of Hinduism ; now give us books to 
prove your own religion to be true ;" thus of 
himself inviting the commendation of the gos- 
pel to his conscience as the way of salvation. 
"Since you have been here," they told us, 
"nothing has been talked of but religion." 

May these transient efforts soon be followed 
by the permanent labours of some who shall 
give themselves to the work of the Lord among 
the heathen of this region. 



%xiMm. 



The Hindus have many holy places ; that is, 
places where the temples are large and famous, 
where there are idols supposed to possess 
especial power and value, to worship which 
great numbers of devotees resort from dis- 
tant portions of the country; places where 
hordes of Brahmins congregate; where sin 



278 THE CHOLERA. 



abounds, and iniquity is rampant ; where 
idolatry brings forth its true fruit in all man- 
ner of unholiness. Trivatoor, but twelve miles 
from Wancliwash, is such a holy place. Yet 
even into such seats of heathenism the mission- 
ary may enter $ and freely preach the gospel. 

While at Wandiwash, we had been advised 
not to come hither, as the cholera was prevail- 
ing in the town, but we did not feel justified in 
turning aside. As we drew near the temple, 
we learned, from the report of guns and the 
music of discordant tomtoms, horns, and other 
instruments, that the natives were trying to 
propitiate the goddess of cholera. This fear- 
ful disease is supposed to be the malicious 
diversion of a cruel deity; and by these 
methods they seek to persuade her to withdraw 
the infliction. In going through the streets, 
we passed beneath cords hung across from 
house to house, and strung with a particular 
leaf for the same purpose. Over the doors these 
same leaves were hung, and all things showed 
the presence of this disease, so fatal, and, to 
the Hindus, so terrifying. In our morning 
walk through the streets, we tnet a procession 
going with offerings to appease the angry god- 
dess ; while from time to time the loud, mono- 



AUDIENCES. 279 



tonous wailing of a peculiar horn, used only in 
funerals, told us that one and another had 
gone from this dark seat of heathenism to the 
eternal world. At night, all around us arose 
the mournful outcries of assemblages, who, with 
rude music, bells, and loud invocations, were 
for hours calling upon the goddess to stay her 
anger. Oh ! how sad, how painfully sad, to 
know, that of all who were around us not one 
called upon God ! — that, except ourselves, for 
miles and miles in any direction, there was 
not one follower of Christ, nor one missionary 
to bid them turn from idols to the living God ! 
When the people found that we had come to 
preach and distribute books, they began to 
flock to the small rest-house in which we had 
taken up our quarters. Instead of going into 
the streets to preach at this place, We stationed 
two of our bearers at the gate of the compound 
in which the bungalow stands, with directions 
only to admit the men, and not more than 
thirty at a time. Seating these on mats in 
our room, we each addressed them, setting be- 
fore them the way of salvation through Christ 
and the hopelessness of heathenism, and, to all 
who could read, gave books. When one audi- 
ence had thus been addressed and presented 



280 suspicions. 



■with tracts, they were dismissed, and the 
second company, which had by this time ac- 
cumulated at the compound-gate, was admitted. 
In this way we had ten audiences in the course 
of the day. 

The advantages of this plan, where there are 
persons enough to fill a room in successive com- 
panies as long as you are able to speak, are 
many. Noisy boys are excluded; a large num- 
ber of men are reached, and those who come in, 
being your visitors, as such feel bound to behave 
courteously. They do not enter into discussion 
to any great extent, so that you give to them 
an unbroken address, which is of much import- 
ance when each is to hear for so short a time. 
Moreover, they sit down comfortably, and are 
in favourable circumstances to listen with 
quietness and impartiality to what you have to 
say. 

The next day was spent in the same way, in 
speaking to twelve companies. We were pleased 
at being able to sow so much seed in the shape 
of Gospels and tracts in this place, for it is full 
of Brahmins said to be very bigoted. When 
the government sent a man to vaccinate the 
people, so as to check the ravages of the small- 
pox, they supposed it to be a scheme to innocu- 



A SACRED CITY. 281 



late them with the virus of Christianity. To 
avoid this clanger of innoculation with a new 
faith, they seized him, beat him, and cast him 
out of their borders. Smallpox, as well as 
cholera, they look upon as an infliction from 
the hands of the cruel Mari-ammah ; hence 
they seek for deliverance from its ravages, not 
so much by medical aid as by the soothing 
power of offerings, with the music of tomtoms 
horns and guns, upon the mind of the angry 
goddess. 



Our homeward route now brought us to 
Conjeveram, not merely, like Trivatoor, a place 
of resort and of celebrity, but one of the seven 
holy cities of India. Eew places are more 
famous for temples and festivals than Conjeve- 
ram, "the golden-beaded city." Nor is it 
without note in modern oriental history ; during 
the last half of the eighteenth century, its 
neighbourhood was the scene of many a bloody 
struggle between the armies of England and 
France, while contending, ten thousand miles 



282 CONJEVERAM. 



from home, for the supremacy of India. Here, 
too, Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo in 1780 
met, and by superior numbers overpowered an 
English force, slaying or capturing them to a 
man. 

But Hyder and Tippoo have passed away, 
and British power is here supreme. The inha- 
bitants of the holy city, no more harrassed by 
marauding bands of robbers or terrified by the 
approach of hostile armies, have little to think 
of but their pagodas, their processions, and their 
gains reaped from the superstitions of Southern 
India. 

The town is long and straggling, covering a 
space near six miles in length. The streets are 
broad, level, and finely planted with shade-trees. 
The inhabitants are mainly Brahmin, who live 
by the temples. Their houses are often large, 
and, when compared with those of other Hindu 
towns, handsome. Though the country around 
is not rich, the money brought into Conjeveram 
by its sanctity, and its celebrity as a resort of 
pilgrims^ gives it the appearance of prosperity 
and ease. The streets cross each other regu- 
larly ; the temples are of uncommon size and 
extent, the tanks large, and the choultries 
(native rest-houses) numerous. 



TEMPLE OE SIVA. 283 



The great attraction of the place is the 
temple of Maha-deva, the "mighty god ; ' Siva. 
The entrance to this temple, styled by the 
Tamil people a gobram, by the English, pa- 
goda, is very lofty, being, if I remember aright, 
twelve stories in height, and may be seen for 
miles around, towering above the cocoanut-trees 
with which the streets of the "golden city" are 
planted. This structure is upon the same model 
as that upon which all the gobrams of Southern 
India are built. They stand in the centre of 
one of the four walls which surround the tem- 
ple, which is properly only the dwelling-place 
of the idol-god, and frequently very small. 
They are pyramidal in shape, and rise in suc- 
cessive stories, gradually diminishing as they 
ascend. In the first story of the gobram is the 
gateway to the courts and shrines within. 
Each succeeding story is reached by flights of 
steps, and has an arched door-like opening, 
through which you can see the sky beyond. 
They are built usually of brick, stuccoed with 
chunam, (Madras plaster,) and are completely 
covered with grotesque images of gods, demons, 
and creatures of all imaginable shapes, and of 
some shapes quite unimaginable, save by a 
Hindu. 



284 RIVAL TEMPLES. 



The temple proper, as in the temple at Jeru- 
salem, stands in a court within this gateway, 
and upon a slightly raised platform. Around 
this court runs a deep portico supported by 
stone columns, said to be a thousand in number. 
Of these, some are plain, and others carved 
into the shape of animals, vases, gods, &c. On 
the walls, also, are many sculptured scenes. 
Many of these scenes, though in the spot de- 
voted to the worship of their gods, are so vile, 
that human nature, unless itself as vile, would 
blush to confess that it could conceive them. 
Yet, here the gods are worshipped — this is a 
holy place, and to visit it an act of piety ! Such 
is Hinduism, and such the moral sense of the 
Hindus ! Such, rather, is human nature left 
to reveal its own depravity. 

The great temple of Siva has not a monopoly 
of the sacred city. The worshippers of the 
rival god Vishnu have also a famous temple 
here. It is not Christianity alone, as many 
suppose, that is divided into sects. Hinduism 
has its sects, who have engaged in bloody wars 
to decide whether Siva or Vishnu was the 
supreme ruler ; and Mohammedans of different 
sects hate each other as bitterly as do the 
Vishnuvites the Sivites. A line of separation 



IDOLATROUS PROCESSIONS. 285 



has "been drawn by the government between the 
two divisions of Conjeveram, of which one is 
known as Siva-Conjee, the other as Vishnu- 
Conjee. As the rival sects may not settle 
their disputes by blows, they take delight in 
insulting and ridiculing the claims of the op- 
posing god and his worshippers. On the night 
preceding the great car-drawing, the Vishnu- 
vites mount their idol on a great gilt elephant, 
and drawing it to the line of ~ separation, turn 
its tail toward the temple of Siva, and with 
shouts and gestures of insult, run it backward 
to the line. The affair ends bloodlessly, how- 
ever, with abuse and insult, and, it may be, some 
pulling of hair and brandishing of fists. 

At a certain season, the incarnations of 
Vishnu, ten in number, are celebrated for ten 
successive days. Each day his image is exhi- 
bited to the public, or is borne in procession 
through the streets. The idol, adorned with 
jewels and rich clothes, is seated on a platform 
surrounded by his priests, and the platform 
borne in triumphal procession through the wide 
streets. It is preceded and followed by devotees 
on foot, drummers astride of bullocks, elephants, 
dancing-girls, torch-bearers, fireworks, and men 
in various disguises. Others, to excite com- 



286 CAR-DRAWING. 



passion by their penances, and so collect alms, 
move among the crowd with iron rods run 
through their cheeks or sides ; or lie with their 
heads buried under the earth, while their bodies 
are exposed to public gaze. Others, 'with scarce 
a rag to cover their nakedness, and smeared 
all over with ashes of cow-dung, exhibit limbs 
stiffened by disuse, or emaciated by long-con- 
tinued austerities. The drawing of the idol- 
car is thus described by a missionary visiting 
Conjeveram at the great festival for the pur- 
pose of preaching to the assembled multitudes : 
" Early in the day, I went out to witness the 
imposing spectacle. The bright sun that 
Jehovah made flooded sky and earth with 
effulgence. Were it not an inanimate luminary, 
surely it would have veiled its face with mid- 
night sorrow, as it gazed upon the scene that 
passed before my eyes. How shall I describe 
it ? A vast multitude, whose heads were like 
the ears of waving wheat upon an illimitable 
grain-field, filled up the long avenue along 
which the car was drawn. It was, indeed, a 
mighty structure, towering above the tops of 
the palm-trees. It was gaudily decked with 
crimson trappings, and a glittering umbrella 
adorned its pinnacle. Its massive wheels moved 



CONJEVERAM. 287 



slowly and majestically through the sand. 
Monstrous, misshapen forms, like dragons of 
giant size, grinned and leered hideously on its 
four sides; and images of horses in leaping 
attitudes were projected from its front. On the 
fore-part of the car, and about half-way up the 
edifice, Brahmins stood waving long and grace- 
ful deer-hair brushes to the crowd below ; while 
men, packed in the sides of the car, busied 
themselves in letting down ropes with bags 
attached, and drawing up the spoils which the 
people deposited in them. Four cables of 
enormous size, such as no ship on the ocean 
carries, stretched far away in front of the car, 
lying like anacondas on the necks and heads 
of the half-maddened throng, who, grasping 
them and bearing upon them with their full 
strength, moved the towering vehicle slowly 
along. Between the ropes were Brahmins, old 
and young, waving cloths and sticks hung with 
small white banners, cheering the multitude 
forward in their task. Now the throng would 
stop, weary with their labour ; and now again 
the shout would rise up with a great rush of 
voices along the cables, and once more they 
would give their shoulders to the toilsome work. 
I never saw such a sight. The ocean-like crowd 



288 CAR-DKAWING. 



parted and met around the car like waters 
around an island. The old, the rnicldle-aged, 
and the young were there. Aged Brahmins with 
white hairs were there ; and there, too, were 
infants lying on the necks of delicate women. 

"Among the deluded worshippers, I saw 
some who bore votive cocoanuts in their hands. 
These they cracked, and then held the dis- 
severed portions with uplifted arms before their 
idol-god. I saw others, who stood at some dis- 
tance in advance of the car, throwing them- 
selves flat upon their faces in the hot sand to 
do homage to the senseless image. My soul 
was filled with horror at this sight. Having 
been occupied for several days, together with 
my father, in preaching^ against idol-worship, 
and proclaiming the true God, I felt a little 
apprehension, before going out, lest I might 
meet with some insult or violence ; but, when I 
witnessed this scene, indignation took the place 
of apprehension. I felt that if there was aught 
for which I could lay down my life, it would be 
possible for one to do it in testimony against 
this abominable idolatry." 



PART IV. 



fete, 

Caste has been fitly called the cement that 
binds the great structure of Hindu institutions. 
Not only does it separate each class from all 
others, but compacts the whole, so as to form 
of dissimilar and uncongenial units an almost 
impregnable body. Its influence cannot be 
overlooked by any who long for the regenera- 
tion of India. 

You are met by caste when you first put 
your foot upon the shores of Hindustan, and 
you meet it at every step of your progress and 
in every effort to Christianize the people. In 
the city and in the village, in the highway and 
in the byway, in the school and in the church, 
with the high and the low, the child and the 
gray-headed man, the influence of caste must 
be met and overcome. It constitutes one of the 
chief obstacles to the spread of Christianity 
To know the work to be 



290 CASTE. 

done among the one hundred millions of men 
who are held in its bonds, we must know some- 
thing of the nature and effects of this institution. 

Caste is a Portuguese term adopted by the 
English as the representative of the native word 
Jathi — the term applied to the distinction of 
classes or tribes among the Hindus. They 
apply the same term to foreign nations, calling 
the English a Jathi, and the French another 
Jathi, or caste. Properly, however, you can 
only speak of four castes. These four were 
ordained of God, and all outside of these are 
casteless or no-caste. According to the re- 
ceived holy books of the Hindus, the four 
divinely instituted castes are, the Brahmin, the 
Kschatrya, the Yaisya, and the Sudra. 

The Brahmins are said to have sprung from 
the head of the creator Brahma. Being thus 
born from his noblest part, they are, by birth, 
pre-eminent in dignity and holiness. They are 
the priests and lawgivers of the nation. 

The Kschatryas sprang from the shoulders 
of Brahma, and fill the kingly and military 
offices. 

The Vaisyas sprang from the body of the 
god. It is their duty as merchants and traders 
to care for the wants of the state. 



CASTE. 291 

The Sudras sprang from his feet. They are 
therefore subordinate to all, and must, by me- 
chanical and servile labours, contribute to the 
happiness of the high-born, especially to that 
of the Brahmins. 

Such is the divine arrangement of castes, ac- 
cording to the holy books of the Hindus ; but 
time has greatly changed both the number of 
castes and the rules by which they are governed. 
The Kschatrya or military caste, and the Vaisya 
or mercantile caste, have become almost ex- 
tinct, leaving the Brahmins and Sudras as the 
two great divisions. These two have again been 
subdivided into many tribes and castes, so that 
it is commonly said that there are eighteen 
chief, and one hundred and eight minor castes. 
There is a large body of outcasts belonging 
to neither of the four original castes, and called 
Pariahs ; though despised by the others, they 
have among themselves distinctions of dignity 
which they hold as tenaciously as do the higher 
orders theirs. 

The number of castes will not excite wonder, 
when it is remembered that almost every em- 
ployment or profession forms a separate caste. 
The members of these subdivisions, though be- 
longing to the same great caste, will not inter- 



292 CASTE. 

marry, nor will they eat, drink, or associate 
with each other. Thus, physicians form a sepa- 
rate caste, the druggists another, the shepherds 
another, and so on with herdsmen, barbers, 
writers, farmers, carpenters, goldsmiths, masons, 
blacksmiths, and many other trades. The black- 
smith will not marry into the family of the 
weaver, nor will he eat or drink with him ; nor 
will the carpenter with the shepherd, nor the 
accountant with the mason. Each profession 
is handed down from father to son. Before his 
birth, the calling of the man is decided and his 
associations fixed. Society is thus made up, 
not of men, but of castes ; and man sympathizes 
not with his fellow-man, but with his caste. 
Each caste, wrapped up within the narrow 
limits of its own little circle, knows no hospi- 
tality or duty beyond this well-defined boundary. 
No success, no genius, no virtue can lift him out 
of the caste in which he was born ; and no crime, 
except a breach of caste, can degrade him from 
it. This the Hindu believes to be the ordinance 
and will of God. His place in society was fixed 
at the creation. 

What, it will be asked, are the practical work- 
ings of this system. To this two answers have 



DEFENDED. 298 



been given. The Abbe Dubois,* a French Ro- 
man Catholic missionary, says — " I consider the 
institution of castes among the Hindu - nations 
as the happiest effort of their legislation ; and 
I am well convinced that if the people of India 
never sank into a state of barbarism, and if 
when almost all Europe was plunged in that 
dreary gulf, India kept up her head, preserved 
and extended the sciences, the arts, and civil- 
ization, it is wholly to the distinction of castes 
that she is indebted for that high celebrity." 
He argues that by the continuation of the same 
profession in certain castes from father to son, 
a knowledge of the useful arts is maintained ; 
that by caste-rules, habits of decency are pre- 
served ; and by caste-discipline, immorality is 
restrained. While we may admit that caste is 
not utterly useless in these respects, we wonder 
that the Abbe should forget that all improve- 
ment in the arts is repressed, the cravings of 
genius for higher and nobler callings are crush- 
ed, and natural tastes disregarded. If some 
castes keep up certain rules of decency, at the 
same time indecent and degrading practices are 
perpetuated in others. Thus, for instance, while 

* Author of a valuable work on the maimers and cus- 
toms of the Hindus. 

25* 



294 CASTE. 

some castes dress with entire decency, in others 
women are forbidden to wear any clothing above 
the waist. The want of refinement in the gross, 
ignorant Pariahs, which excites the horror and 
disgust of this ecclesiastic, should rather move 
him to pity, for the inflexible rules of caste 
condemn him for life to the circle and lot in 
which he was born. If the caste-discipline is 
sometimes beneficial, it is more often unjust 
and cruel; and hospitality within the caste 
becomes mere clanship, while the heart is hard- 
ened into a stone-like indifference to the mise- 
ries of the members of other castes. 

It might be supposed that high-caste men 
would be more tenacious of the distinction than 
those of low caste ; but this is not the case. 
Even the outcast Pariahs of the villages, who 
feed on carrion, find some upon whom they may 
look down, and the lowest Sudra would refuse 
to take a cup of tea from the hands of any king 
in Europe ; it would defile him ! Our garden- 
er's sick wife would not eat any delicacy pre- 
pared by our cook, because he was a Pariah, 
though a most respectable man, with higher 
wages than her husband. Once, when examin- 
ing a school on our verandah, one of the boys, 
a poor little fellow with only a dirty strip of 



expulsion. 295 



cloth to wrap about his middle, fainted. I got 
some water and sprinkled it on him. At this 
the scholars and teachers were quite horrified, 
and ran to stop me, lest his caste should he 
spoiled by water from the hand of a casteless 
person like myself. 

Caste is quite independent of station. A high- 
caste pauper is the superior of a low- caste king. 
As Europeans ha^ no caste, to eat with them 
would degrade a Hindu of any caste. For a 
man to receive a cup of tea from the hand of a 
missionary, is an evidence of his willingness to 
renounce caste, and is sometimes made a test 
of sincerity with religious inquirers. During a 
famine in Madura, even starving women refused 
food from the table of the missionary. When 
in Calcutta, a little boy in our family went into 
the room in which a servant was eating, and 
happened to lay his hand upon him. The man 
immediately rose and threw his dinner into the 
street. 

A volume might be filled with illustrations 
of the folly and cruelty of this system ; but its 
workings will be seen in the causes and method 
of expulsion from caste. When the rules of 
caste have been broken, the crime is not always 
followed by discipline. If the offender is 



296 CASTE. 

wealthy, powerful, or highly connected, the 
trespass is often winked at. But if the offender 
is poor, or has enemies who desire his down- 
fall, the case is published abroad, and he is 
cited to appear before the guru (the religious 
teacher and head of the caste) and the chief 
men. If the case is made out against him, he 
is punished, according to the magnitude of the 
offence, by fines, blows, or branding with a hot 
iron, or, if it be a trifling fault, by a feast to 
the caste. He is then made to humble himself 
with prostrations to the earth before the guru, 
and purified by drinking a mixture called 
pancha-karyam, (the five products of the cow,) 
which has the power of cleansing from sin and 
stain. 

Sometimes, however, owing to the bitterness 
of enemies or the nature of the offence, it can- 
not be thus expiated. In such cases, the offender 
is driven from his family and society — his 
parents, his wife, and his children refuse to eat 
with him or to give him a drop of water, his 
friendship is denied, and his society shunned 
by all. He does not fall to a lower caste, but 
sinks at once to the level of the Pariah. As 
the elephant cannot become a dog, or a lion a 
mouse, so the Brahmin or Kschatrya does not 



LOSS OF CASTE. 297 



become a Suclra ; he ceases to be a Brahmin or 
a Kschatrya, and becomes a casteless man, a 
vagabond upon the face of the earth. 

It does not matter whether the offence was 
voluntary or involuntary ; it is not the sin, but 
the defilement, that constitutes the crime. In 
Bengal, a European, out of spite, seized a 
Brahmin and forced spirits and meat into his 
mouth. He became an outcast. At the end 
of three years, efforts were made by his friends 
at the expense of forty thousand dollars to have 
his caste restored, but in vain. Another effort 
was made, however, and by expending some one 
hundred thousand dollars, his fellows were in- 
duced to consent to his restoration to his former 
rights- and privileges. During the reign of 
Tippoo, Sultan of Mysore, an attempt was made 
by that cruel prince to force the Hindus to 
adopt the Mohammedan religion. A number 
of them were forced to eat beef as an evidence 
of their having forsaken Hinduism. After his 
overthrow by the English, these persons peti- 
tioned for a restoration to caste, but in vain. 
No penances could atone for the worse than 
cannibal sacrilege of eating the flesh of the 
sacred cow — an animal so holy in their eyes, that 
to kill one is a crime as heinous as the murder 



298 A TRIAL. 

of a man. Had they committed theft, adultery, 
fraud, or perjury, it would have been a small 
matter ; but the stain of beef-eating could 
neither be forgiven nor washed away. 

A case mentioned by the Abbe Dubois will 
illustrate the injustice of many of the decisions 
of a caste among people so low in morality as 
the Hindus. Eleven Brahmins, passing through 
a country desolated by war, arrived exhausted 
by hunger and fatigue at a village. To their 
surprise and disappointment, they found it 
deserted. Rice, they had with them, but no 
vessel in which to boil it. Looking around, 
they could find nothing but the pots in the 
house of the village washerman ; for Brahmins 
even to touch these would be a defilement 
almost ineffaceable. But being pressed by 
hunger, they bound one another to secresy by 
an oath, and having washed one of the pots a 
hundred times, they boiled their rice in it. One 
of them alone refused to partake of the repast, 
and on reaching home he accused the other ten 
before the chief Brahmin of the town. The 
rumour quickly spread; the delinquents were 
summoned and compelled to appear. Having 
learned the difficulty in which they were likely 
to be involved, they were prepared for the 



CASTE BROKEN. 299 



charge ; and, according to previous agreement, 
each protested that the accuser only was guilty 
of the crime which he laid at their door. Which 
side was to be believed ? Was the testimony 
of one man to be taken against that of ten? 
The result was, that the ten Brahmins were de- 
clared innocent, and the accuser, being found 
guilty, was expelled with ignominy from the 
caste. Though his innocence could scarcely be 
doubted, the judges were offended by his dis- 
closure, and could more conveniently sacrifice 
him than the ten truly guilty and foresworn 
men. 

At the present day the rules of caste as laid 
down in the sacred books cannot be enforced. 
Having lived for centuries under a foreign yoke, 
formerly that of the Mohammedans, now that 
of the English, they find it impossible to follow 
the laws of the Shasters. Sometimes from 
necessity, sometimes from the love of office and 
of gain, they must or will transgress the rules of 
caste. While offences are profitable, and offend- 
ers both many and strong, these breaches of 
the law will be winked at. In trade, public 
offices, schools, and the army, you will find men 
of all castes daily violating the rules of the 
Shasters. 



800 CASTE. 

But when a Hindu becomes a Christian, and, 
as a mark of Christian fellowship and brother- 
hood, eats or drinks with his spiritual guide, 
caste becomes an instrument to snatch from 
him his wife and children, to cut him off from 
every tender tie, and to make him (as far as 
civil law permits) an outcast and a home- 
less wanderer in the land of his fathers. It is 
a cause of devout thankfulness that even this 
strong chain with which Satan has bound the 
idolaters of Hindustan has been broken by the 
power of the Spirit of God, and that converted 
Hindus have had grace to brave the scorn and 
persecuting rage of their countrymen — that 
they have forsaken all to follow Christ. In the 
American mission at Madras, all the members 
of the churches, male and female, assemble 
yearly around one table, and partake, together 
with their teachers, of a cheerful repast. This 
is their " love-feast." Soon may these un- 
christian barriers between man and man be 
broken down, and love unite in the bonds of 
Christian affection the millions of redeemed 
Hindustan ! 




Vaisnnava Brahmin, p. 301 



BRAHMINS. 301 



SI]£ §talmui^ 

Before leaving the subject of caste, an 
answer should be given to the question, "What 
is a Brahmin?" Should you meet a member 
of this powerful caste, fresh from his morning 
washings and prayers, with a snow-white cloth 
wound around his middle, his body and shoulders 
bare, his head shaven and uncovered, and his 
brass vessel of water in his hand, walking with 
a stately consciousness 'of superiority to all 
created things ; * and should you address this 
question to him, he might reply — 

" I- am a Brahmin, of the race that sprung 
from the mouth of Brahma, the almighty creator. 
By birth I am pure, holy, and noble, a priest 
and guide of men, superior to all lords and 
kings. Twice born, and invested with the sacred 
thread, I am the repositary of the Vedas, (those 



* The illustration represents a Vaishnava Brahmin, or 
one Avho belongs to the sect especially worshipping the god 
Vishnu. This is known by the marks emblematic of this 
deity painted on his forehead, arms, and body. The sacred 
thread, the poita, is over his shoulder, and in his hand he 
carries his brass water-vessel. 
26 



302 BRAHMINS. 



divine books which, if a Suclra heard read, his 
head would cleave asunder.) I am the medium 
of blessings from heaven to men. Without me, 
the world would be a desert; for by me the 
infant is purified, the man married, and the 
dead buried. By my prayers, misfortunes are 
averted, the sick healed, curses removed. If 
the Suclra lie for me, it is no sin; if he drink 
the water in which my toe has been dipped, he 
will be purified. Though a beggar, I occupy a 
height to which kings may not aspire; nay, 
even the gods are subject to the prayers I 
utter !" 

If you ask the Christian missionary, "What 
is a Brahmin ?" he might answer, " He is what 
you would expect a man to be who held such 
opinions as to his nature, rights, and offices." 
The proud belief of his own purity, wisdom, and 
exaltation, the supreme contempt of all other 
men that dwells in the breast and appears in 
the speech and mien of the Brahmin, cannot, I 
think, be paralleled in the world. From his 
birth he is followed by a succession of ceremo- 
nies, each one tending to enhance his self-suffi- 
ciency. When twelve days old, a feast is held 
with many rites for the purpose of giving the 
young Brahmin a name. When six months old, 



THEIR HABITS. 303 



there is a second feast to attend to the important 
step of giving him his first solid food. Two 
years later, the child has his head shaved, his 
nails pared, and his ears bored, with many 
ceremonies, to the sound of music. Again, at 
about nine years of age, comes the more im- 
portant and complicated ceremony of investing 
him with the sacred cord of one hundred and 
eight threads, made of cotton gathered and 
spun by Brahmins. This cord he ever after 
wears over his left shoulder and across the 
breast to the right hip. At this time he is first 
taught the unspeakably sacred prayer called 
the gayatri, which no other ear must ever hear, 
and now he becomes a "twice-born" Brahmin. 
Having been espoused at about sixteen to a 
girl four or five years old, and married to her 
when she has attained womanhood, he becomes 
qualified for the duties, honours, and privileges 
of the priesthood. 

The Brahmin must eat no meat, nor any 
thing that has had life ; he must drink no spi- 
rituous liquors. He must use no vessel for 
cooking or eating that has been used by any 
one of a lower caste ; if a Sudra but look upon 
the pot in which his rice is boiling, it must be 
broken. He cannot receive water or cooked 



304 BRAHMINS. 



food from any but Brahmins ; nor can he have 
a Sudra as a servant in his house. A man of 
any other caste, even though a king, is too im- 
pure to hand food to a Brahmin beggar. 

His holiness is so intense as to give him much 
trouble, for commonly he must be his own ser- 
vant; but it brings with it many privileges. 
When he receives charity at the hands of others, 
he confers a favour ; and if he feasts at their 
expense, deserves their gratitude, for they have 
received an honour and done a work of great 
merit. The revenues of great tracts of land 
are devoted to their maintenance, and most 
government offices are held by them. On every 
occasion of importance, as marriages, births, 
&c, the Brahmin must be called and receive 
a fee. 

With all their pretended holiness, it is noto- 
rious that Brahmins are far more careful to 
avoid defilement in public than in private, and 
that when out of sight they violate the rules 
of caste to gratify their appetites. As liars, 
they are unrivalled in a land of liars. Though 
professedly abstinent, when invited to a feast, 
they will eat nothing the day before, so as to 
be in readiness for the good cheer they expect; 
and then will gorge themselves, so as sometimes 



TAKING DONER. 305 



to be unable to walk home. In intellect, how- 
ever, they are undoubtedly superior to the other 
castes. 

The accompanying illustration * gives a view 
of a wayfaring Brahmin taking his food. He 
is represented uncovered from the waist up, as 
a true Brahmin ever should be, and with his 
thread about his shoulder. His head is shaved 
except a lock on the crown, which is formed 
into a coodamy or queue. On the glossy green 
plantain-leaf which is spread on the ground 
before him, serving for table-cloth and plate, is 
piled a little mountain of rice. This he has 
flattened at the summit with the knuckles of 
his right hand, (his wife is doing the same by 
hers,) and his daughter-in-law, the usual maid- 
of-all-work, is ladling into the cavity the curry 
(vegetable curry, of course) with which his din- 
ner is to be seasoned. On the leaf are pickles 
or other relishes. When he is well helped, the 
Brahminee will receive her allowance, and the 
poor daughter-in-law will take w T hat is left. 
The cooking process is seen at the right. Three 
stones form the fireplace ; on these stands the 
earthen rice-pot, under which the little sticks 



* From a painting by a Hindu. 
26* 



30b brahmins. 



are thrust and pushed in as they burn away. 
On it stands the curry-pot, serving as a cover, 
and retaining its own heat. The water- chatty 
and another vessel stand on the ground ; near 
by lies an unfolded plantain-leaf as it is cut 
from the plant, which, when unrolled for these 
domestic purposes, possesses a polish, delicacy, 
and beauty most exquisite. 

There can be little doubt that the Brahmins 
are of a different race from the mass of the 
people of India. Ages since, entering Hindustan 
from the north-west, they have, by the force 
of a superior mental structure and a higher 
civilization, imposed upon its docile nations 
their religion, laws, and customs. This influ- 
ence, as well as the introduction of Sanscrit 
into their languages, has been most complete in 
Northern India, and has extended over the fer- 
tile plains of Southern India. But the rude 
inhabitants of the hilly ranges, the aborigines 
of the country, in many places know nothing 
of the gods or the religion of the Brahmins. In 
feature, the Brahmins are more handsome, as 
well as more intelligent in expression, and in 
complexion lighter, than the Tamil and other 
races of Southern India. In mental power, also, 
they are their superiors, while, from their sta- 



LOSING POVVEE. 807 



tion, they derive elegance and self-possession 
in manners. / 

But the golden age of the Brahmins is passed. 
As they now sorrowfully say, "All men are 
free." Under British rule, and through the 
influence of Christian missions, caste has ceased 
fully to define the position of men in society. 
If the Sudra has merit and education, he will 
be advanced. Even Pariahs now acquire edu- 
cation and wealth. Though caste is still an 
iron band upon the people, the Brahmins, as a 
priesthood, are losing power. The supersti- 
tious reverence and fear of the lower castes for 
their spiritual lords is diminishing. Nothing 
pleases them more than to see the Brahmins 
worsted in a debate by those who do not dread 
their tyranny or their curse. 

The power of the gospel to change the heart 
has been signally manifested in the conversion 
}f men from this proud and depraved race, who 
have become able preachers of the truth and 
exemplars of the spirit of Christianity. When 
\ruly converted, their rank, mental culture, and 
intelligence make them valuable as evangelists 
to their idolatrous countrymen. But now, as 
in days of old, "not many wise men after the 
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are 



308 PALM-TREES. 



called : but God hath chosen the foolish things 
of the world to confound the wise, and God 
hath chosen the weak things of the world to 
confound the things which are mighty; and 
base things of the world, and things which are 
despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things 
which are not, to bring to nought things that 
are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." 



The vegetation of the tropics impresses the 
stranger from a colder clime not only by the 
richness and luxuriance of its growth, and the 
intensity of its greenness, but also by the no- 
velty of its forms. The light, graceful foliage 
of the margosa, the massive shade of the tama- 
rind, the outstretching arms of the banyan with 
its series of supporting trunks, and the struc- 
ture of many other noble trees, are new and 
beautiful. But it is upon the palms — well called 
the princes of the vegetable world — that he looks 
with most delight. Entirely unlike any of the 
forest or fruit-trees with which he has been at 
home familiar, they awaken trains of thought 



CHAK \CTERISTICS. 309 



and Feeling associated with the earliest dreams 
of oriental life and scenery. Weil do they 
des rve, both from their beauty and utility, the 
position they hold as the most famous of the 
trei »f the field. 

Palm-trees, though of many varying species, 
have all some general characteristics. All 
pal lii s have a trunk, growing often to a 
stately height, surmounted by a crown, not of 
branches, but of leaves ; these leaves are either 
fan-like, or divided iike the plume of the ostrich 
into leaflets springing from a strong leaf-stall. 

But, while thus possessing common traits, 
the different tribes present striking diversities. 
Some, like the rattan, climb to the summits of 
trees -in the dense forests, and, serpent-like, 
growing from tree-top to tree-top, throw up 
their leafy heads above their topmost branches. 
Others are but a cluster of palm-leaves spring- 
ing from a concealed trunk. In some, the shaft 
is most slender near the summit ; in others, at 
a point midway from the» root to the leaves ; in 
others, again, its diameter will not vary per- 
• ceptibly from the root to the leafy top. 

A number of these different members of the 
palm-family are found in India, but among them 
two stand pre-eminent for frequency and utility ; 



810 COCOANUT-PALM. 



these are the palmyra and the cocoanut. To 
take these away would greatly diminish both 
the beauty and wealth of Southern India ; for 
whole castes are entirely dependent upon them 
for their support. The cocoanut-palm is one 
of the most beautiful as well as one of the most 
useful of this beautiful and useful tribe of 
plants. Its shaft-like trunk towers forty, sixty, 
or eighty feet into the air ; sometimes quite 
straight, at others bending and curved ; and is 
surmounted by a rich crown of leaves, which 
wave in the air with all the grace of gigantic 
ostrich plumes. The leaves are each about 
fifteen feet in length, and to the number of 
twelve or fifteen spring from the summit of the 
trunk. They are pinnate, or divided into leaf- 
lets, attached to a strong midrib ; the leaflets 
are highly polished and of a deep-green colour. 
The entire tree, when grouped in topes or 
scattered singly amid other objects, enriches 
every landscape in which it forms a part, and 
never ceases to charm the eye. Those who 
have dwelt amid cocoanut groves, when far 
away in colder climes long once more to look 
upon their graceful foliage, glittering in the 
bright sunlight or reflecting the rays of the 
moon in the soft night air of India. 



COCOANUT-PALM. 311 



As new leaves spring from the head of the 
ascending trunk, the oldest and consequently 
lowest are fading and dropping off. Each, as 
it falls, leaves a ridge upon the trunk, which 
assists the climber in reaching the fruit. The 
blossoms of the cocoanut spring from the trunk 
and open amid the bases of the lower leaves ; 
as the tree sends forth a succession of blossoms 
every few weeks, the fruit is found upon it in 
every stage of maturity at the same time, from 
the blossom and the cluster of pretty little 
green nuts not larger than plums, to the full- 
grown fruit as large as a man's head, hanging 
from a tough stalk and ready to be plucked. 
Looking at the sandy and arid soil from which 
this noble pile of vegetable life springs, we 
wonder at its growth, but it is in such soil that 
it is most at home. 

"The righteous," says the Psalmist, "shall 
flourish as the palm-tree;" his head shall be 
green, his trunk full of sap, his blossoms setting, 
and his fruit ripening,' when all around is 
parched, arid, and waste. And why ? Because, 
as the palm-tree sends down its roots twenty or 
even thirty feet beneath the sandy surface, 
drawing nourishment from the unseen waters 
flowing there ; so the true spiritual Christian, 



312 COCOANUT-PALM. 



while worldliness and deadness reign around, is 
drawing from unseen fountains that water of 
salvation which is within him, as a well of living 
water ever gushing forth unto everlasting life. 
The cocoanut-tree is certainly one of the most 
remarkable of the many wonderful gifts of God 
to man. Of the variety of uses to which it may 
be applied there is almost no end ; nor is there 
any portion of it which has not its peculiar use. 
The trunk, the leaves, the fruit, all contribute 
to the comfort and support of the Hindu. From 
its trunk he builds his hut, makes gutters for 
water, and cuts posts and canoes. From its 
leaves he makes mats for his floor, thatch for 
his roof, and screens for the front of his house; 
closely-platted, it gives him fish-bags, baskets, 
and even buckets for water. The stiff, strong 
stalk of the leaf answers for an oar for the 
fishermen, for the construction of fences, and 
for fuel ; while the husk which surrounds the 
nut, when soaked and beaten into separate 
fibres, furnishes thread and twine from which 
to make his nets and ropes, as well as a swing- 
ing hammock for his babe, and a mattrass for 
himself. The fruit, when young and green, 
furnishes a refreshing drink from the water 
within it, and the kernel is then so soft that it 



ITS USES. 313 

may be eaten with a spoon ; when ripe, it be- 
comes a most valuable article of traffic, as it 
contains a large amount of oil which is ex- 
pressed in mills and sold for use in cookery, 
for lamp-oil, for anointing the head and body, 
and for many other purposes. The kernel is 
also used in the formation of sweetmeats and 
of the universally-eaten curry. The hard shell 
of the nut, when cut and polished, answers for 
ladle, cup, or spoon ; and, when not thus used, 
for fuel, as it contains a good proportion of oil. 
The sap gives toddy and arrack, (intoxicating 
drinks,) or, if boiled down before fermenting, 
sugar. 

Many as are the uses of this invaluable tree 
already enumerated, they are not all. Indeed, 
to take away from Southern India and Ceylon 
its cocoanut-trees, would inflict upon multitudes 
a most severe calamity ; hence, their owners 
guard them most carefully, and on no account 
destroy them until they grow old and of little 
value except for timber. They are rented out 
at so much a tree, and sometimes a single tree 
will be the property of two or more persons. 
Commonly, the cocoanut-palm is planted in 
topes or groves, covering a large surface of 
ground, and arranged in parallel lines, so as to 



314 COCOANUT-PALM. 



form lanes completely shaded by their uniting 
leaves. 

The fruit is sent to the large towns for sale; 
but in many parts of India these cocoanut 
topes are devoted to the production of intoxi- 
cating drinks ; and the gift of God, for the com- 
fort and enrichment of man, is made the means 
of his degradation and ruin. The license sys- 
tem of the English rulers of India fosters the 
traffic ; and, while it brings a present revenue 
to government, is impoverishing the people 
from whom revenue is to be obtained. The 
privilege of selling the toddy 'and arrack in 
each district is sold to the highest bidder, who 
must then sell enough of these liquors to make 
it profitable to himself. By this system, the 
consumption of intoxicating drinks has been 
raised in many places from almost nothing to 
tens of thousands of gallons yearly ; and, where 
a few years since the contract would not bring 
a hundred rupees, it now sells for thousands. 
The unavoidable consequence of this system is 
the increase of intemperance, crime, and 
poverty. Government, following the example 
of the woman in the old fable, is killing the 
goose to get the golden egg. 

Toddy is the sap of the palm-tree ; in Ceylon 



TODDY AND ARRACK. 315 



of the cocoanut-palin, and on the continent 
principally of the palmyra. It is obtained by 
cutting off the end of the spathe, or stalk of 
flowering blossoms, and suspending from it an 
earthen pot to collect the liquid which distils, 
drop by 4 * drop, from the cut surface. When 
first obtained, it is sweet, and, if boiled down, 
yields a large quantity of sugar ; if permitted 
to stand, it soon ferments and becomes intoxi- 
cating. From gardens near the towns and 
cities it is brought in this state to be sold in 
the liquor shops ; but in places more remote 
from markets it is distilled, and yields a much 
stronger and more alcoholic liquor called 
arrack. This is a means of ruin not only to 
the natives, but also to European soldiers in 
India; thus there is inflicted upon the go- 
vernment a loss for which the revenue received 
by this traffic is very far from compensating. 
It is to be hoped that this will be seen, and a 
stop put to this great and sore evil, which 
threatens fearful mischief to a hitherto tem- 
perate people. According to Hindu rules, no 
man of good caste may touch intoxicating liquors ; 
but the habit of drinking both home-made and 
imported spirits is rapidly increasing among 
natives even of high castes. 



316 PALMYRA-PALM. 



The palmyra-palm grows along the whole 
Indian coast, but abounds most in the south- 
eastern part of the peninsula. From Madura 
to Cape Comorin on the south, and from the 
seaboard many miles inland, the sandy soil 
produces little beyond groves of this tree ; a 
caste called Shanars, numbering some hun- 
dreds of thousands, subsist almost entirely upon 
its products. An interest attaches to them and 
their mode of life from the fact that by far the 
most successful efforts of missionaries in South- 
ern India have been those made for their 
benefit. 

The palmyra lacks the grace of the cocoanut ; 
its branchless trunk rises stiffly to a height of 
thirty or forty feet, and terminates in a cluster 
of fan-shaped leaves, each four feet in diameter, 
and spreading from a stout leaf-stalk into a 
circular leaf, ending in pointed rays like the 
fingers of the hand. Erom these leaves palm- 
leaf fans are made by trimming and binding 
the edges of the leaf, the stalk serving as a 
handle. These fans are sometimes of a very 
large size, and are waved by an attendant who 
stands at a little distance from his master, 
grasping the handle with both hands. In jour- 
neying through Southern India, you will fre- 




Young Palmyra, p. 316. 



CLIMBERS. 317 

quently notice a banyan-tree, from the centre 
of whose trunk the foliage of the palmyra rises 
in a leafy crown. This rather singular pheno- 
menon is caused by seeds of the banyan 
dropped by birds or otherwise upon the moist 
summit of the palmyra, there germinating and 
sending down their roots ; these roots, reaching 
the ground, fix themselves in the earth and 
grow until they almost or altogether envelop 
the trunk of the palmyra, leaving only its head 
exposed above the banyan. 

The chief value of the tree is its sap, which, 
like that of the cocoanut-tree, is obtained by 
cutting the sheaths which contain the flower- 
buds. To do this would be no easy task to one 
who, for the first time, was led to the foot of a 
naked trunk rising forty or more feet from the 
ground without a single branch, and too large 
to be encircled hj the arms ; but to the Shanar, 
accustomed to climb them from his boyhood, it 
is a trifle. Indeed, this is the employment of 
his life. At four o'clock in the morning he sets 
out for his day's work with a girdle attached to 
his waist, from which is suspended one or more 
earthen pots for the sap, and a sheath contain- 
ing a large knife. A piece of cloth around his 
middle is his whole clothing. Tying a small 



318 PALMYRA-PALM. 



piece of rope around his ancles to keep his feet 
from slipping apart, and passing a band around 
his own body and the trunk of the tree, he 
places his feet against the trunk, and leaning 
back upon the band, commences his ascent. 
He reaches the top with an ease and rapidity 
given by long practice, and resting himself 
upon the band around his waist, with his feet 
braced against the tree, has his hands free to 
cut the flower-bud, and hang from it his earthen 
pot ; or, when this has previously been done, to 
empty the sap which has accumulated into the 
vessel which he carries at his girdle. The 
climber ascends tree after tree, and empties the 
fluid into larger vessels on the ground ; these 
his wife sets over a fire which she kindles 
among the trees. It is boiled down until it is 
thickened into a syrup, which is poured out and 
cools into lumps of coarse black sugar, called 
in Tamil harupu-hatty or black-lump. The 
life of both husband and wife is very laborious, 
and the danger of falling adds to the hardship 
of the Shanar's calling. But, though from time 
to time an accident occurs, and the poor toddy- 
drawer is found lying mangled or with broken 
limbs at the foot of his trees, practice makes 
them as much at home among the leaves and 




Coeoanut trees, and Toddy gatherers of Southern India, p. 



SIIANARS. 319 



flower-buds of the tall palm as others are upon 
the solid earth. The sugar, fruit, and roots of 
the palmyra form a great part of the Shanar's 
food, and the sale of his surplus crop enables 
him to procure some few of the comforts of life ; 
but as a class they are very poor. This very 
poverty, however, has probably made them more 
willing to receive the riches of everlasting life. 
The religion of the Shanars is devil-worship : 
not in the sense in which all idolaters are said 
to worship devils and to follow the doctrine of 
devils; but the objects of their worship are 
actually evil spirits — devils. Their sacrifices, 
prayers, and devotions are directed to the at- 
tainment of a deliverance from the wrath and 
persecutions of these Peys and Pisasus, or 
devils ; their temples are called Pey-covils, or 
devil-temples, and their worship, Pey-arathaney, 
or devil-worship. These devils are very nume- 
rous, and their number receives constant acces- 
sions from the ranks of the spirits of dying 
men. The grave of an English officer has be- 
come a holy place with some of these deluded 
devil-worshippers, and the offerings made to 
his departed spirit show their idea of what will 
most appease his ghost — they are brandy and 
segars ! 



320 DEVIL-WORSHIP. 



As a specimen of their views as to the cha- 
racter and agency of demons, we would men- 
tion the story told of a female devil called 
Mootoo-Ammen. Having, as they say, been cast 
out of her place, and condemned to wander for 
thousands of years on the earth, she entreated 
that some favour might be granted to her which 
would lighten the wretchedness of her banish- 
ment. Her superior answered that the only boon 
he had to bestow was the power of injuring men, 
of destroying children, and cursing the earth 
with barrenness. This gift was quite satisfactory, 
and she went forth to exercise her vocations, 
and to be worshipped and propitiated with 
sacrifices by the people. 

The effects of such a belief can readily be 
imagined. Fear, not love, is the moving cause 
of worship, and no holy influence is exerted 
upon the heart. Sin is not rebuked, crime is 
not checked, the mind is not elevated ; on the 
contrary, the soul is belittled, debased, and de- 
graded, even by the act of worship. 

They offer sacrifices of fowls, sheep, and goats 
to the demons whose favour they desire, and 
whose vengeance they fear ; and to English and 
Pariah devils they give libations of spirituous 
liquors. They believe firmly in possessions by 



POSSESSIONS. 321 



evil spirits, and some among them profess to be 
able by incantations to cast out devils from the 
possessed. While under the influence of the 
devil, (as they affirm,) the possessed person 
raves, dances in a furious manner, foams at 
the mouth, distorts his countenance, and falls 
into convulsions. What they say at such times 
is held to be said by the spirit, and is received 
as an oracle by the lookers-on. The English 
and American missionaries, though they think 
that the devil may have a special power over 
persons who thus give themselves into his hand 
and invoke his coming, do not look upon such 
cases as actual possessions, in the scriptural 
sense. Some of the German brethren, how- 
ever, deem them actual possessions. 

Although the Shanars have received into 
their belief some of the opinions of the Brahmins, 
and have much in common with the more north- 
ern nations of India, they are undoubtedly of a 
different race from the mass of the Hindus. 
They are probably the first inhabitants of this 
part of India ; and, though subject to the au- 
thority of the more modern Hindus, they retain, 
to a great degree, their ancient manners and 
religion. 

A race inhabiting the same part of India, 



ROBBER-CASTE. 



and known as Mar avers, are also distinct from 
other classes of Hindus. They are, by profes- 
sion, thieves. They are found very useful, 
however, as watchmen. If you reside in Tin- 
nevelly, you can insure your property against 
theft by the employment of one of them in this 
capacity. Going to a head man among them, 
you engage one of his men to live upon your 
premises as a guard, for two rupees (one dollar) 
a month. The head man now becomes respon- 
sible for your property, and if any thing is 
stolen, he is bound to make it good. Being 
thus under his guardianship, none of his men 
molest you; and should others of a different 
clan steal from you, he would probably make 
reprisals, and obtain satisfaction by sending his 
followers to commit a theft on some premises 
under their care. 

The venerable Schwartz, amid his labours at 
Tanjore and Trichinopoly, turned southward to 
preach the gospel in Tinnevelly. His labours 
were attended with success ; but they were not 
followed up, and for want of nurture the seed 
sown, though 'it sprang up most promisingly, 
yielded but little fruit. In the year 1820, Mr. 
Rhenius, a Prussian in the employ of the Eng- 
lish Church Missionary Society, 'one of the 



SUCCESSFUL LABOURS. 323 



most able, devoted, and successful missionaries 
of modern times, removed from Madras to 
Tinnevelly, and commenced vigorous efforts for 
the spread of the truth among its eight hun- 
dred thousand inhabitants. His labours were 
remarkably blessed. Village after village re- 
nounced heathenism to put itself under the 
superintendence and instruction of the mission. 
In 1852, there were, under the care- of two mis- 
sionary societies, in this district alone, more 
than thirty-five thousand native Christians. 
Although this work has embraced all castes, it 
has been most widely extended among the 
Shanars. Many a pey-covil (devil-temple) has 
been torn down to make way for the school- 
house ;' and walls and images have been used 
in the construction of Christian churches. A 
single missionary will have under his care two, 
three, four, or even five thousand persons, who, 
though not all converted, nor all admitted to 
the Lord's supper, have cast away their idols, 
received the Bible as their guide, and become, 
in name and outward life, Christians. As these 
communities are scattered in fifty or sixty vil- 
lages, one missionary cannot suffice for the in- 
struction of all. Catechists, or native preachers 
and teachers, are therefore appointed, one or 



324 TINNEVELLY. 



two to each village. These catechists assemble 
at the mission-station once a month to report 
each as to the portion of the field under their 
charge, and to receive instructions for the 
coming month. Several days are spent in re- 
ligious exercises, and the catechists then return 
to their charges. At other times the missionary 
is engaged in preaching and labouring at the 
central station, which is intended to be a model 
for the out-stations, in preaching to the heathen, 
and in visiting the various villages under his 
care. Schools for the education of children, 
both boys and girls, and higher seminaries for 
the training of native preachers and teachers, 
afford full employment for all the men upon the 
ground. The success which has attended their 
labours has compelled them to become, to a 
great degree, bishops or overseers of their flocks, 
and leaves them but little ability to preach ex- 
tensively among the heathen beyond their 
parishes, without neglecting their charges. 
Devoted men are now being sent forth, whose 
duty it will be to go beyond the labours of 
these brethren, and to itinerate among the vil- 
lages and towns. It should be remarked, how- 
ever, that the heathen villages and Christian 
villages are so intermingled, and single villages 



SPREAD OF THE TRUTH. 325 



so divided, that both the stationary missionaries 
and the native preachers have many opportu- 
nities which they improve for making known to 
them the way of salvation. And, moreover,' 
without any direct effort on their part, native 
Christians, and even little children from the 
schools, scatter the seed in neighbouring com- 
munities, and thus lead others to unite with the 
Christian body. A similar and deeply interest- 
ing work is going forward in the adjoining dis- 
tricts of Travancore and Madura, under the 
labours of English and American mission- 
aries. 

It will be seen at a glance, that as those who 
apply for instruction in Christianity are usually 
heathen men, their motives must be often of a 
mixed character. They hear the truth, and 
feel its great superiority to their own debasing 
idolatry ; or they perceive that Christian com- 
munities near them are increasing in worldly 
comforts and education ; or they conclude 
that the new religion is to prevail; and thus, 
from a variety of reasons, are led to apply for 
a teacher, and to engage to renounce idolatry 
and heathenism. A movement commencing 
with a few individuals will sometimes in the 
end embrace a large number, who unite with 

28 



326 TINNEVELLY. 



their friends in choosing the new religion, 
rather than have two parties in the village 
community. 

In a village inhabited by Shanars, but belong- 
ing to a Brahmin , part of the people had re- 
solved to become Christians. When this came 
to the ears of the proprietor, he went to the 
place, and, convening a town-meeting, addressed 
them to this effect : " I hear that some of you 
have determined to learn the new Veda, (Scrip- 
tures ;) now, I do not wish to have any divisions 
or quarrels in my village, nor shall there be 
two parties here. Therefore, all of you either 
remain in a body in your old religion, or else 
all join the new. If you like to embrace Chris- 
tianity, do so ; I shall not oppose you ; and, if 
you like, you may turn your temple into a 
prayer-house. Only all be of the same mind ; 
and if you do not act justly towards me, I shall 
look to the missionaries to see me righted." 
The Brahmin cared little what religion they 
embraced, if he only got his dues, and well 
knew that as Christians they would be quite 
as good tenants as if heathen. The result was, 
that all of the two hundred inhabitants of the 
village placed themselves under Christian in- 
struction, destroyed their idols, (valued at two 



NEW INTERPRETATION. 327 



hundred rupees,) and devoted their pey-covil 
(devil-temple) to the worship of the true God. 
In another village, inhabited by persons of 
the robber-caste, the inhabitants asked for a 
Christian teacher. The missionary visited them, 
and addressed them from the text, "Contend 
earnestly for the faith." After he was gone, 
they sat down to talk over this matter. As 
their minds were still befogged with the mists 
of heathenism, they had some discussion as to 
what the padre meant. The subject, however, 
was made clear by one of their number : "We 
must fight for the new doctrine," said the wise 
Hindu; " that is, we must compel men to accept 
it. There is a village over there — they are all 
heathen ; we must go to them, and see to it that 
they become Christians." This interpretation 
seemed so reasonable, that they armed them- 
selves with sticks, and moved in a body upon 
the village. Having arrived, they made known 
their business. The villagers refused to be con- 
verted so suddenly. The contenders for the 
faith, however, were in earnest ; they sat down 
before the town and blockaded it, allowing no 
one to go out to the w T ells for w r ater. On the 
third day the villagers submitted, accepted the 
terms of the besiegers, and gave in their adhe- 



328 TINNEVELLY. 



sion to the new religion. Strange to say, they 
have embraced Christianity in good faith, and 
are to this day steadfast in the new way, and v a 
permanently Christian village. 

The Christians of Tinnevelly have at times 
been persecuted by the zemindars, or land- 
owners, and by their heathen neighbours ; but 
their general prosperity attracts the notice of 
the latter, and their good conduct in general 
satisfies the former. They have, in a most 
interesting manner, and of their own accord, 
established among themselves a number of be- 
nevolent societies. One, called the "Pilgrim 
Society," is for the purpose of sending men to 
preach among the heathen villages. Another, 
called the " Church-Building Fund," was com- 
menced at the suggestion of a catechist who 
had belonged to the robber-caste, on the plan 
of each member of the society giving the pro- 
ceeds of his best day's labour in the year, with 
as much more as he pleases, for building places 
of worship. The first church built by this 
society was opened for public worship in the 
year 1842, and is a pleasing evidence of the 
power of the gospel in a district lately so dark, 
so poor, and so debased. They have also tract 
and book societies, widows' funds, and a society 



MISSIONS XO FAILURE. 329 



for purchasing land upon which to establish 
Christian villages. 

It is an interesting fact, and one which justi- 
fies the union of the palm-tree and Christianity 
in Southern India in one chapter, that Chris- 
tianity is actually following the line of the 
palmyra groves northward from Tinnevelly into 
Madura. Owing to the peculiar nature of caste 
influences, the conversion of the Shanars of the 
sandy plains near Cape Comorin has an effect 
upon those who live beyond them to the north ; 
and Christianity seems to be spreading a bright 
line from Tinnevelly along the seaboard to the 
north. 

Did the limits of this little work admit of it, 
our readers might be told of many interesting 
circumstances connected with individual con- 
verts and particular movements. But the few 
hints given suffice to show the nature and the 
greatness of the work which God is doing by 
his servants among the groves and fields of 
Tinnevelly. To those who ask whether the 
preaching of the gospel in India has not been a 
failure; and to those inclined to answer this 
question on the testimony of sailors who spend 
a few days in a tavern at Madras or Calcutta 
and say that they saw no Christians in India; 



330 RESULTS IN INDIA. 



or of travellers who pass a day in a rest-house, 
and describe all the wonders of cities which it 
would take weeks to explore, — we think the facts 
stated should give a satisfactory reply. There 
are, beyond any question, in India, thousands 
who give every evidence of a change of heart; 
and of these thousands there are many w T ho 
make sacrifices for the name of Christ of which 
American Christians never dream. Nowhere 
can we find more striking proofs of the power 
of the gospel to overthrow the most degrading 
superstition, to soften the most obdurate heart, 
to render benevolent the most selfish disposi- 
tion, and to save the most polluted soul. And 
nowhere can we find greater encouragement to 
send the preacher of the truth to every land, 
and to look upon no soil as too barren, no rock 
too hard, to yield the blossoms of righteousness, 
and to hold no nation to be too debased to be 
elevated, refined, and sanctified by the power 
of the Spirit of God. 






HINDU PASTOR. 331 



f I]t f fata faster. 

As a converted Hindu passed a group of 
European officers, they called him to them, and 
in a derisive manner asked, '" How is Jesus 
Christ to-day?" Shocked and grieved at the 
profanity of professed Christians from a Chris- 
tian land, this poor son of heathen parents did 
not keep silence. "Jesus Christ," he replied, 
" is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever ; 
the one living and true God ; the only Saviour. 
He has a name which is above every name, at 
which every knee should bow, of things in 
heaven, of things on earth, or of things under 
the earth ; and every tongue should confess 
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father. Such was his love for sinners, that 
he laid aside his glory, partook of our nature, 
sojourned on earth, and freely gave himself a 
sacrifice for our transgressions. Shall we then 
treat him with irreverence, who so justly de- 
serves oar love and gratitude ? Ought not our 
hearts rather to be melted within us, when we 
reflect upon the manifestations of his love to- 
wards us?" 



332 HINDU PASTOR. 



At this earnest appeal, delivered with the 
meekness of love and the boldness of conscious 
right, the countenances of the group changed 
from laughter to earnest seriousness. When 
he bade them beware of forgetting that they 
were sinners before God, and that, notwithstand- 
ing their high station, they would perish unless 
they forsook their evil ways, and turned to 
Christ, they listened in silence ; and, as he 
left them, respectfully bade him good-evening. 
One, at least, of these officers is believed to have 
been converted by this faithful rebuke from the 
lips of the Hindu pastor. It was Shunkuru- 
lingam, or, as he was called after his baptism, 
Samuel Flavel, pastor of native churches suc- 
cessively at Bangalore and Bellary, who thus 
nobly confessed Christ before scoffers in high 
places. Often had he thus confessed the name 
of his Lord before his heathen countrymen; and 
now he has gone to receive a crown of glory 
from that Master whom he nobly served on 
earth. 

His history is worthy of note. It well shows 
that God can raise up able ministers of his 
word, even from the humblest ranks of the 
Hindus ; and can send them forth as evangel- 
ists to preach the gospel to their idolatrous 



EARLY HISTORY. 333 



countrymen. As an actual, and hence lively 
illustration of this truth, so important in its 
bearing on the question of the conversion of 
the millions of India to Christianity, a sketch 
of the history of this worthy man will not be 
either useless or out of place. 

Shunkuru-lingam was born at Quilon, in the 
year 1792. His parents were worshippers of 
Siva, and named their son in honour of this 
god. They were poor, and belonged to the 
caste of cultivators of the soil. While at Tan- 
jore, a famous city of Southern India, whither 
they had gone to escape the evils of famine, he 
attended a native school ; and, on his return to 
Quilon, he continued to receive instruction in 
the sacred books of the Hindus, and became a 
devoted heathen. At the age of seventeen he 
left home to seek employment, and entered the 
service of a British officer, with whom he visited 
many parts of India, and also the Isle of France. 
Returning to India, he went to Ceylon, where 
he became the butler of a civilian high in 
rank. It was at this time that « God first re- 
vealed himself to Shunkuru. Under a tree he 
found a copy of the Gospels in Tamil, probably 
left there by some Christian Hindu in the army. 
He read it, and believed. But we will suffer 



334 HINDU PASTOR. 



him to tell his own story. Writing at a subse- 
quent date, he says — 

"Hear me without astonishment, and I will 
tell you my history. Formerly, I and my 
parents were heathen. I left my parents young, 
and went to Ceylon. The Lord called me when 
travelling there among the jungles with my 
master. Under the bush, through the great 
gift of wisdom, even the Gospel, the Lord called 
me. On the road from Colombo to Kadera- 
kamam, at the foot of a hill, in a wonderful 
way, the book was given to me. I read it, be- 
lieved what I read, and was convinced that all 
my religion was great folly. The Lord gave 
the Spirit to teach me to know the Saviour be- 
fore I got to the end of the ninth chapter of 
Matthew. I soon learned to cry to God in 
prayer ; but all my thoughts and ways of serv- 
ing him were very childish. I greatly wanted 
some person to teach me to understand this 
book ; but, after many inquiries, could meet 
with no one able to explain it to me in my own 
language. 

" I became very anxious to see the ministers 
of God's word, but I knew not where to find 
any missionary or native Christians. After a 
time, however, I discovered that the Gospels 



ANXIETY. 335 

had been printed at Tranquebar. This rejoiced 
my heart, and I resolved to go thither, believing 
that I should find some one who would explain 
to me the blessed treasure now in my posses- 
sion. I had great difficulties to surmount, for 
I was in a comfortable situation, in the receipt 
of good pay, and carrying on a profitable trade; 
all of which I must forego if I went away. 
Week after week, however, my anxiety increased 
so much, that I at last determined to give up 
every comfort and prospect, and go to Tran- 
quebar. My master urged me to remain with 
him, assuring me that missionaries would be 
passing that way, and that he would request 
them to give me instruction. This, however, 
w T as not altogether to my liking ; so I followed 
out my purpose, and left him. 

"After leaving my master, I came to Co- 
lombo, (a seaport of Ceylon ;) but here I met 
with disappointment, not finding a ship sailing 
to Tranquebar. My distress of mind was great ; 
but after a short time I met with a gentleman, 
with whom I was previously acquainted, about 
to proceed to Bangalore, by way of Tranquebar 
and Madras. I embarked with him, but the 
sea getting high, and the wind being unfavour- 
able, we were obliged to land at Thooloo-koodee. 



336 HINDU PASTOR. 



I here found some worldly friends, and by 
dwelling with them a few weeks I lost my de- 
sire for teachers, and did not find so much 
pleasure as at first in reading the word of God. 
Instead of keeping the book, I now began to 
lend it, and was very anxious to have a name 
among my countrymen, by letting them know 
that I had a printed book. The persons to 
whom I lent it often came to me for explana- 
tion. This I could not give, and as I was 
ashamed to tell them so, would leave them, 
saying, ' I have no time to explain to you.' 
Whenever the book was returned to me, I en- 
deavoured again to read it. 'But why read 
this,' I would say, 'when I do not understand 
it?' I was much troubled when I turned to 
some places which spoke of David, of Solomon, 
of Isaiah, and others. [He only had the Gos- 
pels.] Where, I thought, does Isaiah say this ? 
Who are these ? Who is David ? and who is 
Solomon ? When I read a little and found such 
names, I would shut the book, exclaiming, 'It 
is of no use my reading this book !' Still, the 
merciful God did not leave me. I continued 
to pray every day. 

" My friends became troublesome in asking 
me questions about the book which I could not 



IN DISTRESS. 337 



answer ; and, not wishing to betray my igno- 
rance, I kept the word of God from them. 
They wondered much, and wished to know of 
what religion I was. I told them ' I was of the 
religion of the gospel.' This word I learned 
out of the Scriptures, but what it meant I 
could not have told them." 

A former friend of Shunkuru, when on his 
way to the city of Seringapatam, having met 
Shunkuru, now at Bangalore, called on him. 
Hearing from him of the Gospels in his posses- 
sion, the friend borrowed them, but left Ban- 
galore without returning them to the owner. 
Great was his distress. " I was so grieved at 
the loss of my book," says Shunkuru, "that, 
with tears in my eyes, I said in my prayers to 
God, ' All the people are become my enemies ; 
and thou, Lord, art become my enemy also; 
for I have lost my book. What shall I do ? 
This is my fault ; I did not read thy book, but 
neglected it ; now thou hast taken it away and 
given it-to those that will read it.' " 

Having been deprived of this highly-prized 
treasure, he could not rest. Leaving his em- 
ployment, he proceeded to Seringapatam, eighty 
miles distant, in search of it. After having 
spent some weeks to no purpose, he went one 

29 



388 HINDU PASTOR. 



evening as a spectator to a heathen feast. As 
he was passing a small house, he saw an old 
man reading in one corner, by the light of a 
lamp. He paused to listen, and found, to his 
joy, that the language was that of his beloved 
book. He immediately left his companions, 
and, seating himself beside the old man, listened 
with great attention. After awhile he humbly 
begged permission to look at the book, and 
having read some portions of it, asked for an 
explanation of its meaning. This the old man 
could not give, for he was himself a heathen. 
Shunkuru invited him to meet him at breakfast 
the next morning, and to bring his book with 
him. 

We cannot but turn aside here for a mo- 
ment from our narrative, to notice the wonder- 
ful ways of God. A portion of the Bible is 
left under a tree in Ceylon ; but it is not lost. 
It is found by a poor idolater ; his eyes are 
opened ; he believes it to be the word of God. 
This man, having lost his book, far away from 
Ceylon, in the centre of Southern India, on his 
way to look on at a heathen festival, hears the 
sound of reading from a little hovel. He re- 
cognises the familiar sound. He enters, and 
there, by the dim light of a Hindu lamp, he 



THE BIBLE PRECIOUS. 839 



sits down beside an aged man, also a heathen, 
to study the word of God ! How strange the 
sight ! but it is unseen of all, save God. The 
missionary who gave that book, at some idola- 
trous gathering, it may be, is mourning that he 
has laboured in vain, and spent his strength for 
nought. But God is faithful ; his blessing has 
not been withheld ; and, at the last day, the 
faithful labourer will receive a joyful and sur- 
prising award of praise from him whom he had 
served often in sorrow below. And who can 
tell how many such instances, known only to 
God, will at the last day appear as the blessed 
fruit of the seed now sown by the servants of 
the Lord in India and other lands? Be not 
thou weary in well-doing, Christian, for in 
due season we shall reap, if we faint not ! 

The old man came, according to his promise, 
but told Shunkuru, to his grief, that he was 
going to a distant part of the country. Dis- 
tressed at the thought of again being deprived 
of the word of God, he offered the old man 
eight rupees for it ; his offer (as great propor- 
tionally as if an American labourer should offer 
twenty dollars for a six-cent Testament) was 
accepted ; but, fearful lest the man should re- 
turn for his book, Shunkuru for some time kept 



340 HINDU PASTOR. 



it hid in a SQcret place. He read it with great 
joy, and with a better understanding than be- 
fore ; he would not now lend it, but bid those 
who wished to see it come to his house, where 
he explained it to them as far as he was able. 
"I now," said he, "began to feel a very great 
dislike to all idols, both in the heathen and 
Roman Catholic temples. I began also to have 
a great fear of God, and a dread of sin. I was 
particularly afraid lest God should again take 
his book from me. My grief and anxiety, how- 
ever, daily increased, as I had no person to 
instruct me regarding its contents, and I longed 
for some one to unfold more clearly to me its 
precious truths." 

For some years, Shunkuru continued the 
study of his book, and in different places, 
whither business took him, strove to lead others 
to believe the truths in which he so much de- 
lighted. At some places he erected small 
buildings as school-rooms, and also as places 
for reading and prayer. By these means some 
were led to embrace the truth, and also to 
preach them to others. 

Once, when in Cannanore, on the western 
coast of India, the sound of reading attracted 
his attention while passing a house. From the 



PERSECUTION. 341 



sound be fancied that the book was one with 
which he was acquainted. Listening, he found 
that it was one of the Gospels which he pos- 
sessed. Going in, he saluted the reader, and 
by him was introduced to a company of Chris- 
tians, "the congregation of the G-ospel" in 
Cannanore. Delighted at last to meet with a 
company of Christians, he saluted them as old 
and dear friends. "I have long wished to 
learn something about the gospel," said he to 
this band of disciples, " and this day the Lord 
has brought me to you, that I may know more 
clearly his holy word." 

His stay at Cannanore was too short for him 
to receive much instruction in the truth, but he 
obtained the five books of Moses, with Joshua, 
Judges, and Psalms, with which he returned to 
Mysore. Still he sighed for some one to de- 
clare to him more fully the doctrines of the 
Scriptures. God, we cannot doubt, was by his 
Spirit unfolding to him his will, and preparing 
him for usefulness among his countrymen. He 
continued to labour with them with so much 
success, as greatly to stir up the rage of the 
heathen and Roman Catholics of Mysore, by 
whom he and his friends were much persecuted. 
They were reviled, beaten, stoned, and had a 

29* 



342 HINDU PASTOR. 



part of their house pulled down by the enemies 
of the gospel. As they sought to have him 
cast out of the city, on the ground that he "was 
no Christian, having never been baptized, and 
therefore had no right to trouble them with 
Christian preaching, he resolved to remove 
this objection. He accordingly travelled to 
Tellicherry, a distance of near two hundred 
miles, to receive baptism at the hands of a 
chaplain of the East India Company. At his 
baptism he took the name of Samuel, in token 
of his respect for an English soldier who had 
been useful to him in leading him to a know- 
ledge of the truth. 

Shunkuru, after his baptism, returned to 
Mysore, where it was his design to remain and 
labour for Christ. About this time, however, 
(in the year 1820,) missionaries of the London 
Missionary Society had commenced a station 
at Bangalore. These brethren had seen him, 
and, having been impressed with his earnest 
piety, they invited him to join them and take 
charge of the mission-schools. After some deli- 
beration he did so, and, having been farther 
instructed, was admitted to the church. Soon 
after this, he, at the request of the mission, 
relinquished the charge of the schools, to devote 



FAITH ASSAILED. 343 



liimself to the work of preaching, while he 
studied theology and the duties of a Christian 
minister. 

The religious opinions of this excellent man 
now grew daily more clear. He sat at Jesus' 
feet and learned of him, whom, from the first, 
he had regarded as God manifest in the flesh. 
One morning, returning from the bazaar, where 
he had met a native who advocated the doctrine 
of Unitarianism, which had been brought from 
England to India by a Hindu of Madras, he 
came with much excitement to Mr. Laidler, of 
the London Mission. Collecting himself, he 
exclaimed, " Oh, sir, I have been conversing 
with a native from Madras, and he says that 
Jesus Christ is not truly Grod, but only man!'* 
Then, apparently unconscious of his presence, 
he said, over and over to himself, " Oh, he must 
be God ! He must be God !" This encounter 
led him to search the Scriptures more deeply, 
and to establish himself more fully in the faith. 
It prepared him to stand for the defence of the 
gospel against this and other errors. 

In the year 1822, Shunkuru was set apart, 
after much prayer and fasting, to the office of 
pastor of the native church in Bangalore. He 
was now known by the name of Samuel Flavel, 



344 HINDU PASTOR. 



the latter name having been added by Mr. 
Laidler, who deemed him worthy of it, from his 
fervent piety, his mildness, his disinterested 
conduct, and his careful observance of the pro- 
vidence of God. 

He now laboured earnestly both among the 
members of the church, in his pulpit, in the 
bazaars, and by the wayside. The hostility of 
heathen, Mohammedans, and Roman Catholics 
was aroused. The cutwal (mayor of the town) 
was told that he would find his gods insulted 
in the cards hung up in front of his preaching- 
places. The cutwal, who was a Brahmin, sent 
for the cards, but returned them, having found 
in them no cause for legal punishment. He 
was then accused of obstructing the streets, and 
brought before the cutwal, who decided that he 
might preach where he pleased, if he did not 
interfere with the regular business of life. 
Whereupon, seeing the multitude, he said, " Sir, 
may I address the people from this place?" 
"If you like," was the reply. Thus he was 
furnished by his enemies with an opportunity 
of addressing the people from the very seat of 
justice. The Roman Catholic priest, who had 
a house not far off, seeing the concourse, sent 
his servant to order all the Roman Catholics 



AT BELLARY. 345 



home. Finding that they did not stir, the mes- 
senger was sent a second time with a weighty 
stick, which he applied to the bare shoulders of 
the disobedient. This, however, did not restrain 
the power of the truth to enter and affect the 
hearts of his flock, many of whom listened 
earnestly to the words of life. 

Through evil report and good report, some- 
times persecuted and beaten, he continued to 
bear witness to Christ among the heathen. 
Many were converted through his efforts, of 
whom some were deeply interesting persons. 
He did not only labour in public ; he was much 
in secret prayer ; hence his success. 

In the year 1827 he removed from Banga- 
lore to Bellary, a city of 50,000 inhabitants, 
in the Balaghaut. Here he laboured as at 
Bangalore, seeking to do good to all ; nor did 
God withhold his blessing. About a year and 
a half after his arrival, he wrote to a pious 
officer at Madras : "lam happy that I can in- 
form you that the Lord has blessed my endea- 
vours to preach his gospel at this place. When 
I first came here, there were only four native 
Christians, (communicants,) but now there are 
more than twenty in church-fellowship, and the 
congregation is more than a hundred and forty." 



346 HINDU PASTOR. 



During his ministry at Bellary, he continued 
to have the happiness of seeing souls turning 
from idols to the living God. 

Nor was he useful to Hindus only. It shows 
the transforming and ennobling power of the 
grace of God, that by it the naturally timid 
and servile Hindu was enabled to give words 
of warning and counsel to Englishmen, the con- 
quering race who rule all India. Shunkuru was 
the instrument of good both to Europeans and 
East Indians. At one time, when engaged with 
his assistants in the mission, he was told that 
some one wished to see him. He asked to be 
excused ; but finding that it was a person whose 
regiment was marching, and who had come 
more than two miles expressly to see him, he 
went out. The stranger, shaking him heartily 
by the hand, with tears in his eyes, said, " Do 
you not know me, sir ?" Shunkuru answered, 
"Friend, I do not remember to have seen you 

before." " My name is J W . I was 

a drummer, when you saw me last, but now I 
am a drum-major," said the visitor; a and," 
continued he, accepting Shunkuru's invitation 
to go in and be seated, " thanks be to God that 
I see you again in the flesh ! Although you do 
not know that God has blessed your labours, I 



VISITS HIS HOME. 347 



rejoice to tell you that I and my wife have been 
the fruit of your exertions. My wife longed to 
see you again, but she died happy in Christ. 
Through my poor efforts, several East Indians 
and natives have had their eyes enlightened, 
and are now living consistently as Christians." 
Shunkuru, and the native Christians present, 
listened with joyful hearts to his narrative ; at 
the close of which they parted from this newly- 
found brother with tears, commending him to 
God. 

Shunkuru had left his distant home in Quilon 
an ignorant and depraved idolater ; now, after 
twenty years, he resolves to go thither to see 
his relatives, not as a heathen man, but as a 
minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Preach- 
ing to the people from town to town, four 
months were spent by the way. At last he 
draws near the home of his youth ; but we must 
let this converted idolater himself tell of his 
first interview with the friends of his early 
days : " Before I arrived at my parents' house, 
I sent a person forward with a Gospel, to tell 
them to make ready for a prayer-meeting. They 
all assembled and were waiting for me. Imme- 
diately on my arrival, and before we spoke to 
one another, I opened the Gospel and read out 



348 HINDU PASTOR. 



of it. We then knelt down and prayed. After 
thanking God for his kindness, the crowd fell 
upon my neck and wept. When the noise was 
over, we sat down and conversed together until 
three o'clock in the morning, while I made 
known to them the way in which the Lord had 
led me." 

We need not wonder that coming thus with 
apostolic zeal, in the name of the Lord, and 
invoking his blessing, his visit was made in- 
strumental in the conversion of a number of his 
friends, among whom was his mother, who was 
near seventy years of age. 

In the year 1847 this good man was called 
to his rest. Having been attacked with cholera, 
a disease always more or less prevalent in India, 
he died, after a few hours of great suffering, 
saying, " The Saviour is a sweet comforter — a 
sweet comforter ! My body is very weak, but 
my soul is joyful ! I am now like the pilgrim 
passing over the great river, and soon I shall 
reach the other side !" 

A record of this memorable instance of the 
grace of God in converting and blessing the 
labours of a Hindu among his countrymen, has 
been preserved in a small volume published by 
the members of the Bellary mission. To this 



RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 349 



memoir we are indebted for the facts here 
given, which are full of instruction to the 
thoughtful reader. Truly, we have reason to 
bless God that it is in our power, while survey- 
ing the degradation and heathenism of India, 
to present a picture so cheering of the life and 
death of a Hindu pastor ; and to have an illus- 
tration of the power of God by the most un- 
thought-of means to raise up those who, on 
their own soil, in their own language, under 
their own sun, and among their own country- 
men, shall spread the good news of salvation 
with a facility to which the foreigner must ne- 
cessarily be a stranger. 



IMiptt at i|.e Jjnte, 

Although facts illustrative of the religious 
views and practices of the Hindus occur in the 
preceding pages, a more connected and definite 
account of their system will be desired by some 
of our readers. 

The subject is one of great extent, for it 
treats of the religion of many nations, now 
forming an empire of more than a hundred 



350 HINDUISM. 



million men, through a long series of centuries. 
It is also a subject of much difficulty, from the 
minuteness, length, and diversity of the accounts 
of their faith given by the holy books of the 
Hindus ; and this difficulty is increased by the 
fact that the religion of India has not, as is com» 
monly supposed, remained unchanged through 
these successive ages. 

Whether in our limited space any satisfactory 
account can be given of a subject so vast, so 
difficult, and so complicated, is questionable. 
As there will doubtless be some of the readers 
of our little work who will look for information 
on this point, the attempt will be made to com- 
press within the limits of a few pages an intel- 
ligible view of the main features of Hinduism. 

The foundation of Hinduism is in certain 
sacred hooks known as the Vedas. These are 
regarded as the authority upon which all reli- 
gious faith must rest. They are acknowledged 
by all to be divine, having come directly from 
the mouth of Brahma the creator. The Vedas, 
four in number, are in the Sanscrit, a language 
read by learned Brahmins, but no longer 
spoken tongue. It might be supposed that to 
know the teachings of the Vedas would be to 
understand the religion of the Hindus. Such, 



THE VEDAS. 351 



however, is not the case. The present religious 
practices are not there commanded, nor are the 
commands there enjoined now obeyed. In 
truth, the Yedas, until very lately, have been 
sunk almost in oblivion. The lower castes are 
forbidden to read them, or even to hear them 
read ; and the Brahmins, whose duty it is to 
devote themselves to the study-of these books, 
most holy in the eyes of the Hindu, know but 
little more of their contents than do the Sudras. 
They can repeat from them certain formulas 
for prayer, marriage, and other rites, but of 
the meaning of what they utter they are often 
entirely ignorant. In fact, not one Hindu in 
a thousand has any more definite idea of the 
Yedas- than that all wisdom, all literary excel- 
lence, and all true revelation is contained in 
them ; what these excellent things are, they 
know not. 

Within a few years, through the untiring 
labours of a German student, Max Miiller, 
aided by the researches of earlier scholars, a 
translation of the first Yeda (the Rig-veda) has 
been given to the world. From this we have 
the fact made clear that the ancient Brahmins 
knew nothing of the modern system of Brahminic 
faith and practice. The names of the gods now 



352 HINDUISM. 



most widely worshipped are not mentioned, and 
there are prayers to gods whose names are en- 
tirely unknown to modern Hindus. The Vedas 
are collections of hymns, prayers, and teach- 
ings, written doubtless by a number of persons 
called Rishis, through whom they are said to 
have been revealed. The date of their compo- 
sition is probably to be set at about thirteen 
hundred years before Christ, the age of the 
Judges of Israel. The worship taught is do- 
mestic, contemplating devotion in the family 
and the house, rather than in the temple. 
They direct offerings to fire, and invoca- 
tions of the elements, the deities of fire, wind, 
the seasons, the sun, and the moon. Idol- 
worship is allowed, but only because the 
vulgar and uneducated cannot worship an 
unseen god. 

But, it will be asked, if the religion of India 
as it now is cannot be found in the Vedas, 
where is it to be found ? To this we answer 
that the Hindus have other sacred books, 
though of a sacredness inferior to that of the 
four Vedas, called Upa-vedas, Ved-angas, Up- 
angas, and Purannas. Of these, the eighteen 
Purannas are the books really known to the 
people. They contain poems, histories, theo- 



BRAIIM. 353 

logy, geography, arts, and sciences. Thus, the 
art of medicine or of music is as divinely settled 
as the history of creation ; and it is as heretical 
to dispute the geography as the theology of the 
sacred writings. These compositions are quite 
modern, the oldest of them probably not dating 
back of the ninth century. To define the teach- 
ings of this secondary class of Hindu scriptures 
would be no easy task, since not only do they 
contradict each other most flatly, but their 
sum is so enormous that a lifetime would not 
suffice for their reading. 

There is one point upon which all Hindu 
theologians are agreed, and we might almost 
say, only one point; that is, the existence of 
one eternal, omnipresent, and infinite spirit, 
the Supreme God — Brahm. They will tell 
you also that he is omnipotent, omniscient, and 
immutable ; but by these assertions they mean 
something very different from our idea of the 
infinite God ; for at the same time they assert 
that he is utterly devoid of all qualities, good or 
bad. When they attempt to describe him, lost 
in the mists of their own ignorance, they grow 
more and more vague until the Supreme Being 
melts into a mere essence, or nonentity, bound- 
less and limitless, because possessing no quali- 

30* 



354 HINDUISM. 



ties that can be limited, and no attributes that 
can be defined. Brahm, in short, is an infinite 
nothing. To the Hindu, he is no more an 
object of worship or of regard than space is to 
us. He receives no homage, has no temple, 
hears no prayer. He is to them an unknown 
god ; nay, no god at all. 

The human mind, especially when endowed 
with the activity and subtlety characteristic 
of the Hindus, cannot rest here ; it must have 
something more tangible than this emotionless, 
voiceless, thoughtless, actless being. Here is 
a world; here are men, trees, mountains, 
streams. Whence have they come ? They 
must have some philosophy to account for the 
facts of material existence. To meet this de- 
mand, their philosophers offer to them two solu- 
tions of the problem. These two great systems 
are known as the Dwita, or the two system, 
and the Adwita, or the not two — that is, the 
one system. According to the former, there are 
two eternal existences — spirit and matter ; ac- 
cording to the latter, but one eternal existence, 
which is spirit or mind. 

The followers of the Adwita, (the system of 
one existence,) or the purely spiritual theory, 
commonly called Vedantists, maintain that God 



THE ADWITA. 355 



alone exists. God is the universe ; beside him 
there is no existence ; all that exists is God. 
What then, it will be asked, is matter ? If God 
is a Spirit, and beside spirit there is no exist- 
ence, what are these rocks and oceans ? What 
is this body, and what the earth on which I 
tread ? To this the Vedantist boldly replies, 
" All this is may a — illusion or self-deception. 
You, in your folly, suppose that you have indi- 
viduality, a separate existence ; this is may a, 
illusion — God alone exists. You imagine that 
you see forms, and touch material bodies ; this 
is illusion — they do not exist. But one thing 
exists ; that is, God." 

It must be acknowledged that this statement 
is somewhat startling to poor ignorant crea- 
tures who have always entertained the idea 
that they slept and waked, eat and drank, 
handled and were handled. But the philoso- 
pher of the Yedanta school assures us that 
there can be no doubt as to the matter. u JEx 
nihilo nihil fit," of nothing, nothing is made, 
is an axiom that may not be disputed. If God 
therefore is an immaterial Spirit, from him 
matter cannot proceed ; and, since he alone 
exists, there can be no such thing as a material 
universe. The idea of creation, of an almighty 



356 HINDUISM. 



God, saying, "Let there be light" and there 
was light, of his making all things by the word 
of his power, enters not into the thoughts of 
the Hindu's heart. 

If now we ask for an explanation of this 
mystery of the seemingly existent universe, the 
same answer returns, All is maya — illusion. 
Brahm, they say, has two modes of existence, 
the positive and negative. Originally, he ex- 
isted in the negative state, devoid of all attri- 
butes, and unconscious even of his own being. 
This unconscious nothing was the sole existence. 
Suddenly he awakes, assumes the positive state, 
and exclaims, "I am." By a volition, an act 
of the will, Brahm imagines a universe, and it 
exists, not in fact, be it remembered, but in the 
imagination of Brahm. This imagination is 
the universe. Brahm, by the power of his will, 
realizes his idea ; yet it is not real : it is ideal, 
illusory, non-existent. The individuals of this 
illusory universe, unconscious of the truth that 
they are ideal creations of this volition, suppose 
themselves to be separate existences. This is 
folly, darkness, and deception. To discover that 
all separate and material existence is maya — 
illusion — is true wisdom. After the lapse of 
ages, according to this theory, this bubble of 



DWITA SYSTEM. 357 



imaginary being will burst, and all relapse 
again into Brahni. 

Such are the vain dreams, the " philosophy, 
falsely so called," with which multitudes of the 
most intellectual of the Hindus delude them- 
selves and their followers. All distinctions of 
right and wrong, all moral responsibility, all 
motives to virtue, are thus destroyed ; sin and 
holiness, vice and virtue, are equally vain and 
illusory. A selfish enjoyment of all the good 
they can attain in this deceptive existence be- 
comes the only object of life. Truly, "think- 
ing themselves wise, they have become fools." 

The philosophers of the Dwita, or system of 
two existences, advocate the reality of two sepa- 
rate substances — spirit and matter, and recog- 
nise them as entering into the composition of 
the universe ; but how the union of the two is 
effected, and upon what terms is a point of 
debate. Some say that matter is eternal, and 
only modified in its forms by the sakti or 
energy of the deity ; others that it is something 
emanating from the deity himself. Pantheism, 
or the belief that God is every thing, is deeply 
rooted in the minds of the masses. The soul, 
they believe, is but a portion of the divine Spi- 
rit united to a portion of matter ; and even that 



358 HINDUISM. 



matter is an emanation from this same deity. 
"Brahm," it is said, in one of the Puraniias, 
"is the potter by whom the vase is formed ; he 
is the clay of which it is made. Every thing 
proceeds from him, without waste or diminution 
of the source, as light radiates from the sun. 
Every thing merges in him again, as bubbles 
bursting mingle with the air, or as rivers mingle 
with the ocean, and lose their identity in its 
waters. Every thing proceeds from and returns 
to him, as the web of the spider is given from 
and again drawn within the insect itself." "I 
am God," is the constant assertion of those with 
whom the missionary in India has to deal. And 
his belief that God and the soul of man are 
separate and distinct existences is looked upon 
as the pitiable ignorance of the poor grovelling 
fool who is not able to rise in thought above 
external and fleeting deceptions, to grasp the 
great truth that the soul and God are one. 

Under this theory, the existence of the soul 
in connection with a material body is looked 
upon as a misfortune, and deliverance from 
this connection the highest bliss. To be again 
absorbed into deity, and to lose a separate con- 
sciousness, is the highest idea of supreme and 
final beatitude. This blessedness, however, is 



TRANSMIGRATION. 359 



not attained by the labours and merits of a 
single life and death. 

No man now lives for the first time. He has 
lived in former states, and in other forms, ever 
since the present race of beings first sprang by 
the will of Brahm into existence. He may have 
lived in connection with ten thousand bodies as 
man, beast, bird, fish, and tree ; and he will 
live, age after age, born again, and again, and 
again, until, in successive transmigrations, he 
shall have wiped away every stain from his 
soul by religious penances and good works, or 
by pains and sufferings. Though, by their 
merit, these happy souls ascend to heaven, 
when their store of merit is exhausted, they 
return again, until, by unwonted holiness, they 
are absorbed in God, or at the end of the pre- 
sent dispensation, with all things spiritual and 
-material, they sink into the being from whom 
they emanated. 

This period of existence is called a day of 
Brahma, the name of Brahm in the state of 
creative energy ; it lasts for the moderate 
period of two thousand one hundred and sixty 
millions of years ! At the end of this vast 
lapse of time, all things are consumed by fire, 
or relapse into the creator, and Brahma, the 



360 HINDUISM. 



conscious, becomes Brahma, the unconscious. 
He sleeps ; again he awakes and creates ; and 
again he returns with all creation to uncon- 
sciousness. This work of creation and retrac- 
tion, according to the Purannas, goes on for 
one hundred years of Brahma's existence, or 
the unspeakable term of 311,040,000,000,000 
years ! 

At the end of this unimaginable period, 
Brahma, with all beings celestial and terres- 
trial, relapses into Brahm, and the universe 
ceases to exist. According to one theory, the 
one (spirit) only remains; according to the 
other, the tivo, (spirit and matter.) Nor is this 
the end. Again the same process goes on, and 
again it is undone, until wearied with the effort 
to follow these vain flights of an insane imagi- 
nation, the mind of the Christian sinks down, 
pained and amazed at the depth of the folly to 
which those blindly rush who turn from the 
word of God to frame for themselves a system 
of belief. 

But it will be asked., Who and what are the 
gods of the Hindus f Where is their place in 
this vast system ? To this, one Puranna will 
give one reply, and another, another. The 
greater part of them will tell you that from 



THE GODS. 361 



Brahm, the self-existent, sprang Brahma, the 
creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the 
destroyer. Then again, there were produced 
or created three female deities to be compa- 
nions to the three males of the Hindu triad. 
These three are Sarasvathy, the goddess of 
arts and sciences ; Laehmy, the goddess of 
riches and plenty ; and Parvathy, the goddess 
of destruction. 

From Brahma emanated a vast host of gods 
and demons, male and female. These bore 
others. The higher gods assumed innumerable 
forms, and thus the number of their deities is 
swelled beyond conception, until, in round 
numbers, we are told that there are thirty-three 
times ten million gods, or three hundred and 
thirty millions in all. 

Of the principal gods, each has his own 
heaven, where, surrounded by inferior gods and 
favoured mortals, he holds his court, and enjoys 
the delights of music, flowers, dances, and other 
sensual enjoyments. All the extravagance of 
oriental imagination has been tasked to portray 
the joys of these heavens, but the result only 
adds to the proofs of the weakness and vileness 
of man. Sin, in every shape ; sorrow, in its 
bitterest forms ; violence, rapine, lust, fraud,, and 



362 HINDUISM. 



folly, are no strangers to the realms in which 
Brahma, Siva, Vishnu, and Inclra (king of the 
inferior gods) preside. And when we learn 
the characters ascribed by their own shasters, 
(sacred books) to the beings whom the Hindus 
worship as their gods, we are made to blush for 
our common humanity. Oh ! how little do 
infidels, prating of natural religion, the dignity 
of human nature, and the powers of human 
reason, know of the debt they owe to Chris- 
tianity ! But for the light of Christian morality 
in which they live, the atmosphere of Christian 
principles which they breathe, and the restrain- 
ing influence of Christian public opinion by 
which they are surrounded and kept in check, 
with all their boasted virtue, intelligence, and 
perfectibility, they would sink to the level of 
degraded idolaters. Nor, in the eyes of a holy 
God, are such rejecters of his sovereignty and 
of his Son less guilty or less hateful than the 
vilest of the vile upon the benighted soil of 
heathen India. 

It is not necessary here to enumerate even 
the chief of the deities of Hindustan. The 
names and history of many of them may be 
found elsewhere ; to repeat them would be to 
defile our pages with a dark tissue of crimes 



THE GODS. 363 



and debaucheries. Lying, theft, robbery, 
gambling, murder, fornication, incest, malice, 
revenge, and sin in every shape and form, are 
the characteristics of their gods, even by the 
showing of their own worshippers. If such be 
the gods, what must be the people I Yet, for 
such Christ died ; and such he is ready to wash 
in his blood, and receive to his own glorious 
abode ! Oh the wonders of the grace of God ! 
To worship all of the three hundred and 
thirty millions of gods, or even the thousandth 
part of them, is clearly an impossibility. It is 
the practice, therefore, of different sects and in- 
dividuals, to attach themselves to the service 
of one or more of their deities, to wear a mark 
on their forehead as the badge of their sect, to 
devote themselves in a special manner to their 
worship, and to look to them for protection. 
Of the great triad, Brahma is not worshipped, 
having been cursed for telling a lie ; no temple 
is dedicated to him, no sacrifice offered before 
him. Siva and Vishnu divide the mass of the 
people into two great parties. The former is 
commonly worshipped under the representation 
of a black stone, shaped like a sugar-loaf, and 
called the Linga. Vishnu is worshipped in the 
many forms which he is said to have assumed 



364 HINDUISM. 



from time to time. Thus, he is worshipped as 
a monster, half-man, half-lion, tearing open the 
bowels of a giant ; as a boar, rooting up the 
earth when sunk beneath the waters of the 
deluge ; as a dwarf, so small that he mistook 
a cow's foot-mark, filled with water, for a river; 
as Krishna, a beautiful and licentious young 
man, &c. &c. 

The Sivites maintain that Siva is the Su- 
preme God, while the Vishnuvites as stoutly 
maintain that Vishnu is supreme. Different 
Purannas (sacred books) take opposite sides of 
the question, and the controversy has at times 
led to bitter enmity, and even to war. One 
Puranna says, " By even looking at Vishnu, 
the wrath of Siva is kindled, and through his 
wrath, men fall into a horrible hell ; let not, 
therefore, the name of Vishnu ever be pro- 
nounced." In another sacred book (the Ba- 
gavat) we are told, on the other hand, that 
" Those who are devoted to Siva, and who wor- 
ship him, are justly esteemed heretics and 
enemies of the true shasters." One Puranna 
tells us that a worshipper of Siva overthrew 
Vishnu and all his partisans; another, that 
Vishnu is the greatest of gods and lord of the 
world. Juggernaut, the famous idol of Cuttack, 



THE GODS. 365 



whose name means "lord of the world," is a 
form of Vishnu, and the hero-god Rama is 
another. 

If such is the treatment which the supreme 
deities of India receive at the hands of the 
Hindus, we may judge of the respect with which 
the minor gods are regarded. A multitude of 
absurd, puerile, and most insulting narratives 
of their lives are everywhere told, and listened 
to with satisfaction by the very men who daily 
pray to them. Women, sitting on their door- 
steps, sing in responsive verses the most gross 
charges of folly, impotence, meanness, and 
crime against the two rival deities. Men, as 
they walk the streets, chant the history of 
transactions in heavenly circles that would be 
a shame to any human family. Nor do they 
hesitate to curse the gods, if they do not get 
from them what they desire. A commonplace 
incident will illustrate the total want of respect 
for the highest deities, which is, I believe, uni- 
versal in India. The native preacher who 
assisted me in Royapooram, when going among 
the people, was hailed by a fat, heathenish 
Hindu, and asked about his books and business. 
The man then began to rail at missionaries, 
but added that he had met one padre who was 

31* 



366 HINDUISM. 



worth talking about — it was Padre Poor,* whom 
he saw in Madura. He was a man indeed ; and, 
after praising him warmly, he added, " If Siva 
were to drink the water in which Padre Poor 
had washed his feet, he would get heaven !" 

The images, even of the most famous gods, 
are treated with an entire want of respect. 
The great god of Cuttack, the famous Jugger- 
naut, is dragged by a rope around his neck to 
his place upon the car. Obscene jests are 
made at the expense of other idols. In times 
of too much rain they bring out the image from 
the temple, and expose it to the pouring tor- 
rents, that the god may learn the inconvenience 
of such weather ; and in parching droughts 
they either expose it in the sun, or else pour 
cold water on its head, that the fierce ardour 
of the deity may be cooled off. 

Their worship of the gods is such as we 
should expect from this state of things. It 
consists of coaxing, bribing, flattering, and 
threatening. If the god will do so and so, they 
will give him a new cloth or a cocoanut, or 
they will sing his praises through the whole 
world. They do not ask or promise holiness ; 

* The Rev. Daniel Poor^of Ceylon, taken to his rest in 
1855, after thirty-six } r ears of labour among the heathen. 



WORKS OF MERIT. 367 



nor is it in the least essential (and why should 
it be with such gods ?) to secure the blessing. 
The gods do not desire that the worshipper 
should renounce his sins ; to pay them a blind 
devotion will secure their favour. Hence, a 
man niay'ask aid in a wrong cause as well as 
in a right one ; he may pray for prosperity in 
fraud or theft as well as in the ordinary busi- 
ness of life. 

Another main part of the religion of the 
Hindus consists in works of religious merit. 
The matter stands thus : A child is born in a 
given caste and station in life, with a certain 
amount of beauty and fortune. He has been 
born before, it may be, ten thousand times, and 
has each time lived and died. He will die 
again- and then again be born ; and so on, until 
finally absorbed in the Supreme Being. His 
present condition is the result of his conduct in 
former lives. If, in his present life, he in any 
way accumulates a stock of merit, his next birth 
will be in an upward direction, and bring him 
nearer to absorption. If he just fulfil his duties, 
he may expect to be born again in about the 
same condition. But if he incur the displeasure 
of the gods, and transgresses the laws of Hin- 
duism, he will, in his next birth, be degraded 



B68 HINDUISM. 



and thrown farther off from the time of final 
emancipation from contact with polluting mat- 
ter. In extreme cases of demerit, he sinks to 
a temporary but fearful hell ; in the opposite 
case of uncommon merit, he rises to some one 
of the heavens. 

It may be mentioned as an incidental but 
lamentable result of this belief in the transmi- 
gration of souls, that it shuts up the fountains 
of mercy and compassion in the human heart. 
Does a man meet with any misfortune — it is 
the consequence of some sin in a former state 
of existence. Does he fall from a scaffolding 
and break his leg — why should I assist him ? 
asks the Hindu — does he not deserve it ? is it 
not the penalty of his own sins? Is a poor 
wretch crippled, maimed, diseased — why should 
he be pitied ? is it not the consequence of his 
own deeds in a pre-existent state ? Thus it 
happens that while Hindus of some sects strain 
their water, and even the air they breathe, so as 
not to take life, as a people they are greatly 
deficient in pity for the afflicted, and most 
backward to deeds of mercy to suffering fellow- 
men. 

As was remarked of worship, so of works of 
merit ; it is true that they are almost wholly 



WORKS OF MERIT. 369 



disconnected from vice and virtue. All notions 
of right and wrong, good and evil, sin and holi- 
ness, are confounded and destroyed. Thus, 
according to Manu, the great Hindu lawgiver, 
the killing of all the inhabitants of three worlds, 
and the eating food from the hands of a low- 
caste man, are sins of equal magnitude. The 
same authority asserts that the Brahmin, learned 
in the Vedas, who takes charity from a Sudra, 
shall, for twelve births, be born an ass ; for sixty 
births, a hog; and for seventy births, a dog! 
On the other hand, by the repetition of a par- 
ticular prayer, without any repentance or re- 
formation, the vilest sins are atoned for, and 
the greatest merit is obtained. To repeat the 
name of his guardian-god is a work of great 
value. Even if it is done unintentionally, it still 
gives the repeater great merit. Thus, a certain 
Ajamil, we learn from the Bagavat, committed 
the most enormous sins, and lived in crime all 
his days. In the hour of death, feeling extreme 
thirst, he cried, " Narayana ! Narayana ! Nara- 
yana ! give me some water !" When the mi- 
nisters of Yama, the king of hell, were about to 
drag him away to punishment, he was rescued 
by the messengers of Vishnu. Upon this, the 
officers of retribution, greatly enraged, appealed 



HINDUISM. 



to their master, who, on examining the account- 
books, and finding Ajamil to have been a noto- 
rious sinner, hastened to Vaicuntha, the heaven 
where Vishnu reigns in glory, to demand an 
explanation. And what was the ground of his 
deliverance ? In the hour of his death he had 
thrice repeated " Narayana, " a name of Vishnu; 
and so great was the merit of the deed, that he 
was immediately taken to heaven ! 

The accompanying cut, taken from the native 
paintings designed to illustrate the Madura 
Puranna, will give you an idea both of Hindu 
art and religious views. The story to be illus- 
trated is as follows : — While Vara-guna was 
reigning in Madura, even as Indra reigns in 
the heaven of the gods, he one day went out to 
hunt lions, tigers, &c. Returning in triumph, 
he unintentionally rode over and killed 
Brahmin who lay asleep in the road. The king 
came to his palace unconscious of what hac 
happened ; but, when the body was brought to 
him, gave money for the performance of the 
proper funeral rites. He was not, however, to 
go unpunished. He had killed a Brahmin, 
(though unintentionally,) and was, in conse- 
quence, afflicted with the incurable disease of 
Brahma-ashti. He sought to atone for his 




Disease leaving the Madura King. p. 370. 



SIN AND FORGIVENESS. 371 



crime by feeding cows and Brahmins, and by 
other works of merit, but in vain. His glory 
was obscured as when Rahu the serpent lays 
hold of the moon and eclipses its brightness. 
He knew not what to do, but resolved to seek 
a sight of the god ; whereupon a celestial voice 
was heard, saying, " 0, king, fear not ! when 
you are pursuing the Soren king, (a hostile 
monarch,) you shall come to a place where I 
am worshipped on the river Cavery ; there you 
shall lose your disease." The king, rejoicing 
at the oracle, repelled an invasion of the Soren, 
and, pursuing him, reached the indicated spot. 
On entering the porch of the temple, he dis- 
covered that the disease had left him. He went 
in, and while paying homage to the deity of 
the place, heard a voice, saying, " 0, king ! 
the disease which seized you waits in the porch 
of the eastern gate, (by which he had entered;) 
do not return by that way, but go out by a 
western gate, and return to Madura." The 
king, with the aid of his people, made a western 
gate and porch, and so, escaping the disease, 
left the temple to return to his palace. 

The reader will notice that both the crime 
and the atonement were entirely aside from 
any change in the moral state of the actor in 



872 HINDUISM. 

the story. In tho illustration, the image of 
Siva is represented as surmounting the Linga, 
(emblematic of this god,) which has been carved 
into a face. The king stands before it, with 
joined hands, in the attitude of worship, and 
behind him is the disease which has left him. 
From the size of the disease, it will be believed 
that the sufferings of the poor Brahmin-slayer 
must have been diffused pretty widely through- 
out his body. This representation of the nature 
of the disease may suggest some ideas on the 
practice of medicine in India, for which we can- 
not here make room. It might be observed 
that the Hindus do not say, with us, that they 
have caught any given disease, but that the 
disease has caught them. 

The story connected with another illustration 
from the same source (the original of which is 
sculptured in stone in the ancient temple of 
Madura) will serve still farther to exemplify 
the views of the Hindus as to the nature of 
the holiness of their religious ascetics, and the 
dignity of the deeds of their gods. In a cer- 
tain town of great sacredness lived a man of 
respectable caste, with his wife and twelve sons. 
These youths, neglecting the instructions of 
their father and mother, joined themselves with 



PIG-HEADED STATESMEN. 373 



hunters, and accompanied them on their cruel 
errands to the woods. One day they came upon 
a holy man who had retired from the world to 
mortify his passions and appetites in the soli- 
tude of a forest. Here he was practising reli- 
gious duties and austerities to obtain deliverance 
from sin. These graceless youths not only 
laughed at the holy man, but even threw sand 
and stones at him. His attention having thus 
been attracted to earthly things, the merit of 
his devotions was destroyed. Filled with rage, 
he uttered on them a curse to the effect that 
they should be born as pigs, and then be 
deprived of their mother. The youths, know- 
ing the holiness of the ascetic and the power 
of his curse, fell at his feet to implore his 
mercy. His anger was appeased, and he told 
them that the lord of Madura should nourish 
them, make them ministers of state, and give 
them heavenly bliss. And so it happened. The 
boys died in the woods, and their spirits entered 
into twelve young pigs ; the parent hogs were 
slain by hunters, and they were left orphans. 
The god Siva, however, of his boundless com- 
passion, pitying them, gave them nourishment, 
restored them to human forms, their heads ex- 
cepted, and endowed them with matchless wis- 

32 



874 HINDUISM. 



clom and learning. Then, appearing in a 
dream to the king, he bade him send for twelve 
rare creatures, who should be his ministers of 
state, and make his reign as rich as illustrious. 
The king obeyed the heavenly mandate, sum- 
moned the pig-headed statesmen to his court, 
and set them over his realms. They lived 
glorious in wisdom as the rising sun, enriched 
the king by their sagacity, did deeds of charity, 
and finally ascended to partake of heavenly 
bliss in the presence of their lord and protector, 
Siva. 

In the illustration, four of the twelve minis- 
ters are standing with their hands joined in 
respectful homage before the king, who, seated 
on his throne beneath a canopy of serpents, is 
engaged in council with these sagacious beings. 

To attempt to detail the religious duties and 
rites of the Hindus would, of itself, require a 
volume. Even the round of ceremonial ob- 
servances required in a single day would fill a 
chapter. Few would be willing to plod through 
the detail, with its minute prescriptions as to 
the cleansing of the teeth ; the plucking, and 
using, and throwing away of the twig with 
which this duty is performed ; the morning 
bath, with its sippings, its casting of water on 




The King's Ministers. 374. 



RELIGIOUS DUTIES. 375 



the head, on the earth, and towards the sky ; 
the prayers and invocation of the sun ; the in- 
haling of water by one nostril, and exhaling it 
by the other; and a whole host of rules for the 
most insignificant acts of life. In truth, pro- 
bably not one in ten thousand of the people 
attempts to fulfil these sacred laws. All that 
is aimed at is to perform so much as will secure 
them from sinking in a succeeding birth to a 
lower grade of being. Others, who are too 
careless of the future to be influenced even by 
this motive, merely comply so far as to satisfy 
the demands of public opinion and avoid the 
charge of want of decency. 

Some, among the Hindus, rising in their as- 
pirations above the low strivings of the mass, 
aim at one leap to pass from present existence 
to some heaven of the gods, or even to that 
final blessedness which is attained by absorp- 
tion into the divine Spirit. Such are known as 
Sanyasees or Yogees. Forsaking the natural 
courses of life, they devote themselves to the 
attainment of a consciousness that God is all 
things, and, that aside from God, the universe 
exists not ; that in all space there is but one 
existence, and that one the supreme Brahm. 
Thus, ceasing to have a separate existence, 



376 HINDUISM. 



they can exclaim, " I am Brahm — the supreme, 
eternal, omnipotent God !" 

To attain to this knowledge, however, is not 
the work of a day ; it is only to be gained by 
the most intense effort, the most self-denying 
austerities, the most protracted meditations, and 
the most painful penances. To learn to regard 
cold and heat, pleasure and pain, hunger and 
fulness, love and hate, as all equally deceptive 
and unreal, existing only in the imagination by 
reason of maya, or illusion, is no light matter. 
Hence, the affections must be blunted, and 
parents, wives, and children renounced; the 
appetites must be quenched ; the instincts of 
nature denied. To do this, they resort to auste- 
rities which have filled the world with wonder ; 
living exposed to the scorching suns of sum- 
mer and the chilling rains of winter; going 
devoid of clothing ; suffering the hair and nails 
to grow uncut ; lying on beds of spikes ; hold- 
ing the arms upright till shrivelled and useless; 
hanging over slow fires, with a thousand other 
forms of self-infliction, in the effort to blunt 
and deaden every motion of nature, " and thus 
virtually to reduce the heart to a petrifaction, 
the mind to a state of idiocy, and the body to 
that of an immovable statue." 



PENANCES. 377 



While some, doubtless, in the blindness of 
their hearts, are actually aiming thus to attain 
to a knowledge of God, others use a show of 
austerities to excite the admiration of the peo- 
ple, to gratify ambition, to secure a reputation 
for holiness, and often to use this reputation 
for sanctity as a cloak for the most abominable 
sins. Whole hosts of so-called holy men wander 
from place to place, as very wolves in sheeps' 
clothing, extorting alms from rich and poor, 
living in debauchery, and making their names 
a stench in the nostrils even* of the debased 
Hindu. 

There are a multitude of forms of self-inflicted 
pain, .such as making long and distressing 
journeys to the temple of a particular god upon 
the hands and knees, cutting off the end of the 
tongue, running wires through the cheeks, 
walking over burning coals with the feet bare, 
and many others, which are not so much parts 
of a long-continued system of austerities, as 
single acts of merit; these are commonly done 
in fulfilment of a vow. One of the most uni- 
versally-practised penances, is that of the 
churruk pujah, or hook-swinging . Different 
as are the customs of different Hindu nations, 
this is found almost everywhere in Hindustan. 

32* 



378 HINDUISM. 



It is a yearly festival in honour of the sangui- 
nary goddess known in Madras as Mari-Am- 
men, the sender of cholera and smallpox, and 
the dreaded slayer of thousands. It was each 
year celebrated in sight of our residence at 
Royapooram. 

On a certain Sunday in July, the top of a 
lofty pole would be seen above the roofs of the 
houses lying between us and the beach, with a 
long and strong cross-beam fixed upon it, like 
the cross-beam of a well-sweep. About noon, 
the crowd began to flow by our house towards 
the beach. Men and boys, women and chil- 
dren, some on foot, some in rude native car- 
riages, poured in a constantly -increasing stream 
towards the centre of attraction. By three 
o'clock, the crowd on the sea-shore around the 
swinging-pole became immense, and the cere- 
monies began. The person about to perform 
the pujali, now advanced with a cloth wound 
about his middle, but otherwise naked, and with 
his body daubed over with yellow paint and 
holy ashes. In the lap of his cloth, which is 
tucked into his waist, he has limes, flowers, 
margosa-leaves, and other trifles. Advancing 
to the temple, he worshipped the idol, and, 
throwing himself on his face, awaits the inser- 



HOOK-SWINGING. 379 



tion of the hooks. The officiating priest, (not 
a Brahmin, for this is a Sudra service,) taking 
up as much of the skin and flesh beneath the 
shoulder-blade as he can grasp within his 
fingers, thrusts the point of the hook into the 
naked back of the devotee ; another hook is 
inserted into the other side of the back. These 
hooks are attached to a cord which is hung 
from one extremity of the cross-beam. Those 
who hold the end of the rope hung from the 
other extremity of the beam now draw upon it, 
raising the opposite end, and the -wretch is 
swung by these two hooks inserted in his flesh, 
high in the air above the heads of the multitude. 
At the sight, an exulting cry bursts from every 
mouth, and the roar of the surf is drowned in 
the united outburst of delight which comes up 
from ten thousand men as the sound of many 
waters. Those who hold the rope now move 
around the pole in a circle, carrying the beam, 
which rotates upon a pivot, round and round, 
swinging the miserable victim of superstition in 
a circle over the heads of the multitude. Hence 
the name of the ceremony, clmrruk pujah, or 
circular worship. As he is thus suspended be- 
tween earth and heaven, with nothing but the 
strength of his own flesh to prevent his falling 



380 HINDUISM. 



a mangled carcass on the ground, he loosens 
his cloth and scatters its contents to the crowd 
below. As the limes and flowers fall, every 
hand is outstretched, eager to catch something 
from a source so holy, as a charm against mis- 
fortune for the coming year. After swinging - 
thus for some ten minutes, he is let down, and 
another devotee has the hooks thrust into his 
back, is raised, swung, and in his turn released. 
Another and another comes forward, and the 
process "goes on till fifteen, twenty, or even 
twenty-five, are swung on one pole in a single 
day. 

What, it will be asked, is the motive to such 
self-inflicted tortures ? The motives of different 
persons differ. A man is ill ; Mari-Ammen is 
about to slay him, and in his extremity, he cries 
to her in prayer, promising, if spared, to per- 
form the churruk pujah in her honour. Another 
has a sick child, and in his distress vows to 
swing if it is spared. Others, again, do it for 
pay, they enduring the suffering for a sufficient 
compensation, and their employers having the 
credit of the meritorious act set to their ac- 
count ! 

Yet, painful as are such scenes of blind su- 
perstition and fruitless self-torture, to a Chris- 



PAINFUL SCENE. 381 



tian heart, a little, bloodless, and most ordi- 
nary occurrence, which I noticed when last 
present at this festival, far more deeply pained 
and affected my soul. As I left the ground, a 
father just before me was leading by the hand 
a little girl some four years old. As they came 
before a small temple in which stood a black, 
misshapen god of stone, the father put his 
hand upon the child's head, made her fall down 
upon her face before it, worship it, and then 
raising her, gave to her some candy as a reward 
for her obedience. Poor child ! my heart is 
sore for thee ! How false and fatal are thy 
earliest thoughts of God ! how deluded thy first 
acts of devotion ! The first prayer lisped by 
thine infant lips is to a god of stone; thy first 
act of obedience to a father's teachings is 
idolatry ; thy little hands are first clasped in 
homage to a thing of naught. And when thy 
childhood gives place to girlish thoughts and 
deeds, and the girl ripens into the woman, wife, 
and mother, darkness, degradation, and hea- 
thenism will be thy portion — thy portion to 
transmit to a coming generation. Will the 
name of Jesus, the only Saviour, ever fall upon 
thine ear ? or wilt thou live and die as though 
Christ had not left heaven to save thee ? And 



882 HINDUISM. 



thou art but one of the countless multitudes 
whom Satan has bound with chains strong as 
steel, and who rejoice and glory in their bonds ! 
As Christ wept over Jerusalem, so might 
Christendom weep over idolatrous and perish- 
ing India. 

Hinduism, vast, complicated, and hoary with 
antiquity, holds in its deadly grasp more than 
A hundred million souls. God grant that 
the Sun of Righteousness may soon shine upon 
these gloomy night-shades, and banish forever 
this worse than Egyptian darkness from these 
millions of immortal minds ! a darkness doubly 
fearful and fatal ; for they love darkness rather 
than light, because their deeds are evil, 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



PART V. 



tokl in tin (Snnmiic. 

The American in India dwells not only in a 
strange land, and among a people of a strange 
tongue, but lie also breathes a foreign atmo- 
sphere, and endures a foreign climate. He is 
and must be an exotic transplanted from his 
native soil, and, as an exotic, lives an unnatural 
life. ' 

The constant heat to which residents of 
Madras are subjected is, to those who come 
from a cold climate, exceedingly trying. The 
mean temperature for the whole year is 84° of 
Fahrenheit's thermometer. It is not so much 
the heat of any one day, though that is often 
great, as the want of cool nights and bracing 
winters, the unbroken continuousness of the 
Jieat, that enfeebles them. When it is kept in 
mind that January, the coldest winter month 
in Madras, is hotter on an average of the twenty- 
four hours than the average of July in New 



884 THE CLIMATE. 



York or Philadelphia, the difficulty of retaining 
health and vigour will be understood. 

Those who in the course of trade or travel 
tarry for a short time in India, speak of the 
"luxuries of the East." These luxuries are 
often attempts to neutralize this ever-present 
heat, and to enable the foreigner to live and 
labour in a climate to which by birth and pre- 
vious habits he is an entire stranger. To the 
New Englander, amid the hills of Massachu- 
setts, the punkah, the bath, and the aid of 
servants might seem mere luxuries ; but to the 
same New Englander in India they are no 
more luxuries than would be a coal fire or a 
greatcoat in December amid his native hills. 
They are means used to counteract or make 
amends for a debilitating climate. 

Yet, though he take as many precautions 
and use as much prudence as he can consist- 
ently with his calling, the missionary cannot 
avoid the effects of this constant heat. He 
cannot expect to have that measure of vigour, 
elasticity, and activity which he might have 
enjoyed at home. Without this vigour, how- 
ever, many persons will retain so much health 
and strength as to labour with effect for twenty, 
thirty, or forty years. There are now five 



ILL HEALTH. 385 



ordained missionaries of the American Board 
of Foreign Missions who left America thirty- 
five and thirty-eight years since ; nor are they 
behind their younger brethren in the zeal and 
constancy of their labours.* Experience shows 
that the greater part of those who prove unable 
to endure the climate fail within five or six 
years after their arrival. If this period be 
past without serious loss of health, the prospect 
for labouring many years is very good. Our 
young men therefore need not look forward to 
a mission to India as a certain means of short- 
ening life ; nor should parents feel that sending 
their children thither is consigning them to an 
early grave. 

It was our lot to prove of the number of 
those ill adapted to withstand the influences of 
an Indian climate. Again and again did sick- 
ness visit us, until there was little hope of a 
recovery of health and strength without a resort 
to a cooler climate. It was decided that we 
should visit the range of mountains known as 
the Neilgherry Hills, to seek, in their more 
bracing atmosphere, a corrective for the weak- 



* Of these, two have died during the present year, 
1855. 

33 



386 TRANSIT BANDY. 



ness and ill health occasioned by a residence 
on the plains. 

India, with its habits fixed by the authority 
of three thousand years, has been compelled by 
British supremacy to receive some novelties ; 
one of these is the "transit handy" the con- 
veyance by which we were carried to the hills. 
The palankeen, which is both slow and expen- 
sive, has, within a few years past, been some- 
what superseded in the carriage of passengers 
from Madras to Bangalore, Mysore, and the 
mountains, by this mode of travel. The 
transit bandy is a peculiar kind of vehicle. It 
is very nearly a palankeen on wheels, and 
more like a little omnibus without seats, and 
drawn by one horse or two bullocks, than any 
other American conveyance. On the level floor 
you lay a mattrass, with pillows or bundles to 
raise your head, and stow away in every corner 
and recess some article needed for the way. 
Should you trust to an imaginary "Arcot 
Hotel," or "Mysore House" for entertainment, 
the bare walls of the travellers' bungalow would 
sadly disappoint your expectations. Your 
transit bandy must be storehouse, pantry, ward- 
robe, and library, as well as bedroom, for the 
journey. 



SLOW PROGRESS. 38T 



Our luggage had been sent off some clays 
before in bullock bandies, which were allowed 
about a month to get through the three hun- 
dred and sixty miles between us and the moun- 
tain-top, as they travel at somewhat less than 
railroad speed. Our own conveyance, drawn 
hy a gaunt and rather unpromising horse, drew 
up before the door just at dusk, after a sultry 
day in March. We were soon housed in its close 
quarters, something in the style of two pas- 
sengers in a steamboat birth on wheels. Off 
we started in fine style, gazed after by a gaping 
crowd of men and boys. Through the streets 
of Black-town, and out at the Elephant gate, 
we drove ; but, alas ! this rate of travel was 
too good to last. We foolishly looked for speed 
in India, and, like many wiser persons, were 
disappointed. Our horse was changed every 
five miles, and usually for the worse, so that 
morning found us not at Wallaja-pettah, as we 
had been promised, but far this side of it. Noon 
came with its glaring sun pouring forth floods 
of irresistible rays ; but we were still toiling 
wearily on, wilted and well-nigh exhausted by 
the heat. So great was the difference of opinion, 
as to the rate at which we ought to go, between 
the driver and the horses, that the controversy 



388 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



sometimes brought us to a dead halt ; one of 
the latter for some time was utterly unmoved 
by blows or persuasions, even resisting the 
hint of a rope tied to his leg to pull it for- 
ward ; but at last he started under special 
inducements, and to our great satisfaction 
did not stop until he reached the stable of the 
next relay. 

We were glad enough, at two o'clock, to 
reach Wallaja-pettab and to exchange our close 
bandy for the comfortable shelter of a roof, and 
to receive a warm welcome from our associates 
in the missionary work stationed at this place. 
Two months earlier they had left Madras to 
commence a new station in this populous dis- 
trict. How sorely preachers of the gospel are 
here needed, (and of all the presidencies of 
India, Madras is best supplied,) will be seen 
from the fact that from Madras to Arcot, and 
from Arcot on to Bangalore, a distance of two 
hundred miles upon the great highway from 
the sea to the interior, there was not, at that 
time, one missionary of any society, English or 
American. And, in almost any direction, you 
might go one or two hundred miles north or 
south of this line without finding anywhere a 
Christian missionary. All is darkness, unillu- 



BETEL-NUT. 



mined even by the little taper lights of isolated 
missionary stations. 

Wallaja-pettah contains some twenty-five 
thousand inhabitants, and is an unusually pros- 
perous native town.- It is enriched by an ex- 
tensive inland commerce ; and the neatness of 
its streets, and the comfortable appearance of 
its houses, give evidence of its prosperity. 
From the interior, grains, indigo, and other 
products are brought here and bought by the 
Wallaja-pettah merchants, by whom they are 
sent on to Madras. This town is a great mart 
for the areca-nut, which is often spoken of by 
writers on India as "betel," or "betel-nut." 
It is a nut with an intensely bitter taste, the 
fruit of a tall and beautiful palm, with a trunk 
but four or five inches in diameter, and crowned 
by a tuft of brilliant leaves. The nut is cut in 
slices, and one piece laid upon the pungent 
peppery betel-leaf, with a little moist lime and 
tobacco. These are wrapped in the leaf and 
chewed, very much as tobacco is chewed by 
some Americans. This practice is almost uni- 
versal. Boys, men, and women, all chew ; and 
they would as soon give up their rice as relin- 
quish their " vittely-pakku," or betel. It stains 



390 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



the saliva and mouth of a blood-red colour, 
injures the teeth, and gives to the women espe- 
cially a disgusting appearance. The beautiful 
white teeth of some of the Christians who have 
renounced this indulgence form a pleasant con- 
trast to the red lips and black teeth of the 
heathen around them. 

Having been refreshed by the hospitality of 
our friends, we resumed our journey on the 
evening of the succeeding day. At the eastern 
end of the main street, as you enter the town, 
stands the preaching-bungalow of the mission- 
ary ; as you go out at its western end, you see 
the tall pagoda of the heathen temple. Life 
and death are thus set before its people ; but 
heathenism, alas ! has all the power of a long 
possession of the land and of those who dwell 
in it. Nothing but confidence in the unchange- 
ableness of the purposes and promises of God 
enables the Christian to see by faith the time 
when India shall submit to Christ. To human 
view the prospect would be most dark without 
the light of these precious promises. We need 
not wonder that ungodly men scoff at the im- 
potency of our efforts ; but we, who count Him 
faithful that promised, see by faith the time 
when India shall cast her idols to the moles and 



PALAR RIVER. 391 



bats, and bow before the throne of Jehovah, 
the one true God. 

Three miles from Wallaja-pettah you reach 
Arcot, and there cross the Palar River. Now, 
as when I had previously crossed this river, its 
bed was a vast field of sand. On arriving at 
its bank, our horse was unharnessed, not that 
we might take a boat, but for our bandy to be 
dragged across by men. From a village on 
the bank of the river, some twenty or thirty 
men, each with but a strip of cloth about his 
middle, rushing out with ropes in their hands, 
fastened them to our bandy. Tugging, strain- 
ing, and shouting, they dragged it through the 
deep sand to the opposite shore. The pay for 
this service, which was about seventy cents to 
be divided among the whole, seemed a small 
sum for so many, but was a full compensation, 
and entirely satisfactory to them. At any 
time, on the arrival of a traveller's bandy, they 
throw down every thing, and run to secure the 
job. 

On our return from the hills, we recrossed 
the Palar when it was dry almost from shore 
to shore ; but on the next day, when I accom- 
panied Mr. S. to preach on the opposite side 
of the river, it was an unbroken stream of tur- 



392 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



bid water, rolling silently along, and full half a 
mile in width. We were hardly able to ford 
it on horseback. Rain had fallen among the 
hills farther up, and in a single night, to use 
an Indian phrase, "the river had come down." 
This is characteristic of Indian rivers. You 
may pass a beautiful stream, with the water just 
wetting the hoofs of your horse, in the morn- 
ing, and in the afternoon find it an impassable 
river or a swollen and foaming torrent. In 
such a case the traveller is compelled often to 
sit down and quietly wait until "the river has 
run by." The rain which has filled the chan- 
nel with water ceases, and the flood subsides, 
allowing a renewal of intercourse between the 
opposite sides of the stream. Where such obsta- 
cles are common, a primitive sort of ferry-boat 
is made by covering a large circular bamboo 
basket with raw ox-hide. In one of these a 
dozen persons may embark, and be ferried 
across with safety by means of a rope stretched 
from bank to bank. 

The natives bringing produce from the in- 
terior are often detained for days with their 
clumsy carts until the waters shall subside. 
Thus "waiting for the river to run by" in 
India is no joke, but a sober reality, and one, 



HINDU CARTS. 393 



too, most trying to the patience. Patience, 
however, is indigenous to India : to sit still is 
never a misfortune to the Hindu while he has 
any thing to eat. 

The common carts used for the transporta- 
tion of goods from the interior, which con- 
stantly pass the traveller on this road, are 
many of them exceedingly primitive in their 
construction. A pole is attached to a simple 
frame running upon two solid wheels, made 
sometimes of a circular cut from a tree, some- 
times of two pieces clamped together. The 
yoke merely lies upon the necks of the cattle 
without being fastened, except that a pin at 
each extremity keeps it from slipping off. These 
bandies are drawn sometimes by oxen, some- 
times (as in the accompanying illustration) by 
domesticated buffaloes, whose hairless hide is 
mercilessly belaboured by the driver.* These 

* In the illustration, the driver, as is very customary, is 
walking beside the pole of the bandy and between the 
buffaloes, to urge them on by blows, cries, and pushes. 
The shaved head and coodamy or queue will be noticed. 
An European, if thus exposed, would soon be prostrated 
by a sunstroke. /A native in better circumstances is walking 
under the shelter of a palm-leaf umbrella, and a cooly is 
trotting by with a tin box upon his head. In the back- 
ground are natives seated on the piol of a small house. 



394 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



clumsy, heavy, creaking, groaning vehicles 
take weeks to pass over the distance that 
■would be crossed in a day by the rail-car. In 
nothing is India more deficient than in means 
of intercourse. With the exception of a few 
main lines, the roads are mere tracks through 
sandy plains or over rocks and hills. It is not 
to be wondered at, that, with such roads, such 
cattle, such carts, and such easiness of disposi- 
tion, the Hindu bandy-man should not be a 
swift courier. They are greatly outstripped 
by the coolies, who with boxes on their heads, 
weighing sixty pounds, travel twenty miles or 
more a day, often for distances of many hun- 
dred miles. 

Fifteen miles from Arcot brought us to Vel- 
lore, a town used as a station for British troops, 
well fortified, and, for many generations past, a 
stronghold of the chieftains of Southern India. 
About the fort is a deep ditch filled with water 
from the Palar River, and inhabited by many 
alligators. These scaly monsters serve as a 
complete guard ; for no one dares to venture 
through the moat, lest he should find himself in 
their capacious and well-armed jaws. 

Yellore is famous for a most fearful tragedy 
which was here enacted less than fifty years 



VELLORE. 395 

since, (in 1806.) The sons of Tippoo, who 
were kept in a liberal confinement in this fort 
after the- overthrow of their father's kingdom, 
were regarded with deep interest by the Mo- 
hammedans, who lost their power with the 
dynasty of Tippoo. This source of trouble, 
combined with an injudicious regulation as to 
the dress of the sepoys, (native soldiers in the 
service of England,) lead to a dissatisfaction 
which ended in a rising of the sepoys against 
the English troops. 

In the dead of night, two battalions of the 
native soldiery surrounded the barracks of the 
English force, and poured in upon them a fatal 
fire through every door and window. At the 
same time, the sentries, the soldiers of the 
guard, and the sick in the hospital were cruelly 
murdered. The sepoys rushed in upon the 
affrighted victims, shot down those who at- 
tempted to escape, and plundered the officers' 
quarters. But they had not done their work 
so effectually as they hoped. A fugitive 
escaped, and flying to Arcot bore the tidings 
of the slaughter of his comrades. A regiment 
of British dragoons, burning with a desire to 
save or avenge their countrymen, hastened 
from Arcot to Vellore, charged through the 



396 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



unguarded gates of the fort, and cut down, 
without mercy, the mutineers, who were so 
much engrossed with their deeds of blood and 
rapine, that they had neglected all means of 
defence. Six hundred men were slain on the 
spot, and two hundred more dragged from 
the concealments to which they had fled, and 
shot. The sons of Tippoo were soon after re- 
moved to Calcutta, far from the scenes and 
friends of their father's rule. 

We now were drawing near the foot of the 
Eastern Ghauts, a range of highlands running 
up into craggy granite peaks, which stretches 
along the eastern side of India, parallel to the 
sea. The road grew hilly and rough, and our 
horse was replaced by a pair of bullocks, more 
able to draw us up the mountain passes leading 
to the elevated table-land of the Mysore. Up 
hill and down we went, and up and down, but 
more up than down, until, on the second day, 
we had left the ascent behind us, and entered 
upon the plateau reaching from the Eastern to 
the Western Ghauts, and varying from eighteen 
hundred to three thousand feet in its elevation 
above the sea. This journey, through steep 
passes, with granite hills on the right and left, 
and masses of rock rolled into ravines, trans- 



BANGALORE. 397 



ported us in thought to the granite hills of 
New England; but the similarity stopped here. 
In place of neat villages and towns, with the 
white spire of the Christian church peeping out 
from among the trees, the school-house beside 
it, and the pastor's dwelling just beyond, we 
found jungly deserts, with intervals of cultiva- 
tion, towns of close-clustering huts, temples to 
Siva, Vishnu, Ganesha, and other false gods; 
while the hill-tops were crowned with idolatrous 
shrines or ancient forts, the scenes of many a 
bloody strife, now falling to ruins. 

After reaching the level of the table-land, 
our journey was over a beautiful rolling country, 
dotted with villages and cultivated fields, to the 
city of Bangalore, where we tarried for three 
weeks, preparatory to entering the cooler air 
of the Blue jV-LOuntains of Coimbatoor. 



Of all the stations occupied by the English 
in Southern India, Bangalore is certainly the 
most charming. Having an elevation of three 
thousand feet above the level of the sea, it 



398 BANGALORE. 



enjoys a climate which, though still tropical, is 
most refreshing, especially in the winter months, 
to the invalid from the low-lands. Hence, it is 
much used as a health-station for those needing 
a change from the oppressive heat of the sta- 
tions below the Ghauts, and also as the head- 
quarters of a large body of troops. The differ- 
ence of temperature, while it does not prevent 
the growth of tropical plants, enables the 
gardener to raise grains, vegetables, and fruits 
which cannot endure the heat of Madras. Wheat, 
potatoes, strawberries, and many excellent gar- 
den vegetables are abundant, in addition to the 
mangoes, guavas, melons, and other fruits of 
the plains. 

The country around is well cultivated. Much 
of it is devoted to gardening, as Bangalore 
supplies not only its own population, but that 
also of the metropolis, with potatoes and vege- 
tables, as well as wheat. Many of the drives 
about the city are very delightful. The roads 
are lined with shade-trees, the mango and the 
banyan often interlocking their branches in a 
leafy canopy above you; and the fields are 
divided by hedges of the gigantic aloe, with its 
mast-like ilower-stem, surmounted by a pyramid 
of white blossoms ; or your way leads you through 



BANGALORE. 399 



a grove of noble tamarind-trees guarding a hea- 
then temple, with a tank beyond, on whose 
banks the tall and exquisitely graceful areca- 
palm is growing, branchless, tapering, slender, 
and crowned with an evergreen tuft of waving 
and glittering leaves. 

Canara, or Carnata, was anciently a Hindu 
kingdom, embracing the noble table-land on 
which Bangalore now stands. Its capital, Bija- 
pore, is now a heap of ruins, covering a surface 
of many miles. In common with every portion 
of this thrice-conquered land, the sword and 
torch have spread desolation and misery through 
all its .borders. Almost within our own day, its 
king, whose capital was then Mysore, gave 
Bangalore as a jaghire or fief, from which to 
support himself while commander of his mas- 
ter's forces, to Hyder Ali. This daring, able, 
and unscrupulous man, who soon dethroned his 
sovereign to establish a dynasty of his own, 
fortified the place strongly, and made it one of 
his chief strongholds. The fort is in shape an 
oval, and about a mile in circumference, and is 
surrounded by a deep ditch. By Hyder and 
his son it was deemed almost impregnable. 
But the stronghold did not prove strong enough 
to resist the cannonade of British artillerists. 



400 BANGALORE. 



In 1791, it was stormed by the English army 
under Lord Cornwallis, (whose name is familiar 
to us from the fact of his surrender at York- 
town to Washington, in 1782, having been the 
closing event of our Revolutionary War,) and 
carried with great slaughter. It is now held by 
the English: and so completely has the domi- 
nion passed into the hands of the new lords of 
the soil, that you would not suppose that it had 
ever been in other hands, and that here, a few 
years since, English officers had been shut up 
in dungeons or led out to execution by Hindu 
chieftains. 

Bangalore is now the principal station for 
the troops of the Honourable East India Com- 
pany in the Madras presidency. It is recom- 
mended for tnis purpose by the salubrity of the 
climate and its central position. The English 
regiments, after being quartered for several 
years in Madras, Trichinopoly, and other sta- 
tions in the plains, are transferred to Banga- 
lore, and, after remaining there for a year or 
two, give place to others needing a similar 
change. The presence of several thousand 
troops, both English regiments and regiments 
of native, soldiery with English commanding 
officers, gives a lively and brilliant aspect to 




Sepoys— Native infantry, p. 401. 



SEPOYS. 401 

the place. The barracks for infantry and 
cavalry are abundant for many regiments, and 
bungalows in pretty gardens give pleasant 
quarters to the officers. On the parade-ground 
the manoeuvres of the troops may be daily seen 
and the sound of military music be heard; 
every morning the young cadets, "who have 
newly arrived from Great Britain to serve as 
officers in the army of India, are drilled in 
their duties by grave, and often noble-looking, 
native officers. It is about one hundred years 
since native troops were first trained to European 
tactics by the French at the siege of Cuddalore, 
(1746,) and now the East India Company 
maintains the immense number of two hundred 
and forty thousand sepoys. Thus she governs 
India with Hindu soldiers, and subdues new 
provinces with levies from those already united 
to the empire. In addition to this force, there 
are in India rather less than fifty thousand 
English troops, to maintain English sovereignty 
over not less than one hundred and tiventy 
millions of Asiatics, thousands of miles away 
from succour from their native land. Yet the 
Hindu fights bravely beside the Englishman, 
and lays down his life to increase the power of 
the flag under which he marches. We trust 



402 BANGALORE. 



that India will be thus subdued to Christ by 
the efforts of a host of native preachers of the 
gospel, trained and, for the present, led by 
strangers from Christian lands. The church 
will greatly mistake her duty if, in her mis- 
sionary labours in Hindustan, she neglects to 
raise up Hindus to go forth and conquer the 
land in the name of the Lord of Hosts. 

The town of Bangalore is distinct from the 
fort, and contains 100,000 inhabitants. Of 
these, 60,000 inhabit the peftah, and 40,000, 
chiefly Tamil people, live in a separate quarter, 
and are mainly supported by trafficking with 
the troops. The inhabitants of the pettah, or 
walled town, are purely Canarese, with a lan- 
guage distinct from the Tamil, though allied to 
it, the language of the ancient realm of Canara. 
Its walls are merely a mud embankment within a 
ditch, and could make little resistance to an 
enemy ; yet, as they still stand, the visitor can 
only enter through the gates. On going in at 
one of these gateways to visit the place, (for 
all foreigners live without the walls in houses 
surrounded by gardens,) the first thing that 
struck me was an idol-temple on the left hand, 
with a grog-shop on the right. Thus, as though 
fearing that idolatry would be uprooted by the 



THE STREET. 403 



■word of God, Satan is raising up in drunken- 
ness a barrier to the spread of the gospel in 
India. It is as true that no drunkard as that 
no idolater shall enter into the kingdom of 
heaven ; and now, to her shame it must be said, 
the influence of Christian England is introducing 
many a Hindu to this road to everlasting death. 
But pass this sad spot, and the long street 
which stretches before you is straight and 
broad, and pleasantly skirted on both sides 
with cocoanut-palms. The houses are low, and 
roofed with hard mud laid upon boards lying 
evenly across the walls, with gutters of 
crockery-ware to carry off the rain. Women 
stand in the doorways, with blue and yellow 
robes thrown gracefully over their shoulders 
and folded around their waists. With rings on 
their clattering toes, and jewels in their ears 
and noses, they chat with one another or 
scream out the gossip of the day to their friends 
across the street. The men stand idly round, 
or sit behind their piles of goods exposed for 
sale on boards raised a few inches from the 
ground, while throngs of pedestrians walk 
through the middle of the street (for there are 
no sidewalks) to their places of business or 
labour. 



404 BANGALORE. 



Not the least numerous, and certainly to a 
stranger the most amusing, portion of the popu- 
lation of Bangalore, is the multitude of monkeys 
that make their homes on the houses, trees, and 
walls. Not two or three consumptive creatures, 
such as we see in menageries at home, or the 
more miserable victims of organ-grinders, 
twitched and tortured into a fictitious anima- 
tion ; but scores and hundreds of them, all life 
and mischief, running over house-tops, drop- 
ping into the street, scampering up the cocoa- 
nut-trees, evidently quite at home, and looking 
with up-drawn eyebrows at the white-faced 
stranger who has intruded upon their domains. 
So numerous are they, that the people cannot 
roof their houses with tiles, as in most Hindu 
towns, for their mischievous fellow-citizens 
would break and carry off the tiles. They are 
as troublesome to the residents of the place as 
they are amusing to the mere visitor ; for they 
steal all they can lay their hands upon, even 
snatching food from the children. They seem 
to consider themselves lords of the manor ; and 
at one time in my walk, came dropping from 
the eaves of the houses and from the trees, and 
followed at my heels, grinning, showing their 
teeth, and barking in so threatening a style, 



MONKEYS. 405 

that I was really afraid they would lay violent 
hands upon me. They are especially diverting 
as }'0u see them on and about the mud wall 
that surrounds the town. This is appropriated 
especially to their residence, and here they as- 
semble in great numbers, exhibiting all the 
phases of monkey life. You see them of all 
ages and statures in family groups; the aged 
grandsire, gray-haired and wise, deep in medi- 
tation, the father watching the gymnastics of 
the younger members of the family, as they 
strengthen their muscles by swinging from the 
tree-boughs, while the mother nurses her hairy 
pet upon her knee. Two staid matrons will be 
gravely examining each other's coats for any 
unfortunate insects, while snappish and pugna- 
cious old bachelors are bristling their hair, 
stiffening their tails, and exhibiting every symp- 
tom of an approaching combat. On any alarm, 
they are all off in a twinkling, the mother run- 
ning up some tree as nimbly as the rest, quite 
unimpeded by the baby-monkey which clasps 
its arms around her body and clings to her till 
she reaches a place of safety. 

Why, it may be asked, if they are so trouble- 
some, are they not driven away or destroyed ? 
The answer furnishes an evidence of the dearada- 



406 BANGALORE. 



tion to which idolatry has reduced the Hindus. 
They have a monkey-god, Hanuman by name, 
famous in the annals of the hero-god Rama as" 
the leader of an army of monkeys from the 
continent to Ceylon, to aid in the rescue of his 
wife from the custody of a giant of fearful 
power. This monkey-god is widely worshipped 
in India. In many private houses, as well as 
in the temples, his image is kept, to be prayed 
to and honoured with religious services and 
offerings. The mass of the people look upon 
these monkeys with a superstitious reverence, 
and would not dare to do them any harm. In 
some places there are hospitals for invalid 
monkeys. In many parts of India it is con- 
sidered a work of religious merit to give them 
food ; and some of them make this charity a 
regular duty. I have seen a man with quite a 
load of cakes of coarse bread, surrounded by a 
crowd of these mischievous divinities, dispens- 
ing with great gravity a piece to each as it 
came up and held out its paw for the offering. 
Some of the cunning fellows would hide what 
was given them, and, returning with an inno- 
cent air, demanded a second portion. 

Other equally foolish modes of attaining hea- 
venly bliss strike the eye. Even the feeding 



GOOD WORKS. 407 



of ants is accounted a mode of acquiring merit, 
to improve the condition of the soul in its next 
birth. Men may be seen going from ant-hill 
to ant-hill, and, with great care, sprinkling 
around each a circle of rice flour. How vain 
are these attempts to create a righteousness 
that shall save the soul from the wrath of God ! 
How can the feeding of ants and monkeys, or 
the more arduous task, of penance, the fasting, 
cutting of the flesh, swinging on hooks, walk- 
ing on nails, or laying down of life itself upon 
the funeral pile, cleanse the soul from Yhe pol- 
lution of sin, or prepare it to stand before God? 
All is in vain ! And equally vain is the con- 
fidence of the self-righteous in Christian lands, 
who look for salvation to morality, charity, 
amiability, or good works. Let us be thank- 
ful that we have a better righteousness to pre- 
sent before God, even the righteousness that 
is by Jesus Christ, who " his own self bare 
our sins in his own body on the tree." "If. we 
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to for- 
give us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un- 
righteousness." 

Bangalore has not been left without some to 
make known to its people the way of life. 
Both the London and the Wesleyan Missionary 



408 BANGALORE. 



Societies have stations here, and are doing a 
good work; although their success has not been 
so marked as that of missionaries in some other 
parts of India. They maintain labours in three 
languages : in English, for the benefit of the 
English troops here stationed ; in Tamil, for the 
thousands in the bazaar or outer town, who 
speak that language ; and in Canarese, for the 
inhabitants of the pettah and the surrounding 
country. Owing to this diversity of languages, 
they also have three churches connected with 
one mission : an English church composed of 
European soldiers, officers, and their wives, and 
two native churches, Tamil and Canarese. I 
had the pleasure of preaching both in English 
and Tamil in the church of the London Mis- 
sionary Society ; and here, for the first time in 
India, I saw a Sunday-school of white children. 
Quite a number of the soldiers are pious, godly 
men, and assemble on the Sabbath, not only 
to be taught, but also to teach. To see groups 
of white-faced, fair-haired children thus ga- 
thered into a Sabbath-school, carried my 
thoughts home to America, where hundreds of 
thousands would thus meet to study the word 
of God on this sacred day. It might, per- 
haps, seem strange to them to see soldiers in 






ROMAN CATHOLICS. 409 



their red coats, white belts, and epaulettes, 
seated in the teacher's chair ; but under their 
uniform Christian hearts were beating, and 
here in heathen India they found work to do 
as soldiers of the living God. In a land of 
idolatry and sin, to see these groups of English 
children with Bibles in their hands, learning 
the way to heaven from soldiers in their red 
coats, was a delightful privilege. 

A church has been gathered from among 
the Tamil population, over which a native pas- 
tor has been set. The labours of the mission- 
aries are mainly directed to the Canarese peo- 
ple, who form the great mass of the population 
of the Mysore territories, and gave their name 
(Canara) to the country. The word Carnatic 
has been improperly applied to the province 
below the mountains by Europeans, probably 
from its having been conquered by Hyder Ali, 
who had already made himself ruler of the true 
Carnata or Canara-desa, the land of the Cana- 
rese. 

The Koman -Catholics, here, as in most ac- 
cessible portions of India, preceded Protestant 
missionaries, and gave to the natives of the 
land the impression that Christianity, though 
a different religion from their own, was only 



410 BANGALORE. 



another form of idolatry. This false view of 
the religion of the Bible raises an additional 
barrier to the spread of the truth ; for how is 
the ignorant Hindu to know that the first 
comer has not a right to the title of "the 
only true church of Cjirist?" In a morning 
walk through the neighbouring villages, when 
passing through some vegetable-gardens, I 
took occasion to converse with a man, from 
whom I inquired my way, on the subject of 
religion. While speaking to him of the folly, 
and sinfulness of idolatry, I happened to say, 
" Wood is not God, and, therefore, should not 
be worshipped." Immediately, a man whom 
I had not observed, as he stood at some dis- 
tance in a neighbouring field, cried out, in a 
triumphant and insulting tone, " What is your 
God but a wooden god?" at the same time, 
with a sneering air and gesture, holding up 
the forefinger of his right hand, hooked into 
that of his left, in the form of the cross. Sup- 
posing that I was a Roman Catholic, since I 
was a Christian, he was intimating that my 
worship of a wooden cross was no better than 
their worship of a wooden idol. The Roman 
Catholics have extensive institutions and many 
priests in Bangalore, and they are very bitter 



411 CATHOLICS CONVERTED. 



against the Bible and its readers, combining 
with the heathen to thwart the labours of the 
missionaries and to persecute their converts. 

The former pastor of the native church at 
Bangalore, Shunkuru-lingam, afterwards known 
as Samuel Flavel, was very successful in his 
labours among his countrymen, both heathen 
and Roman Catholic. Not only in this city, 
but in the surrounding villages and towns, 
many had their eyes opened to the folly of 
idol-worship and false religion through his 
preaching. Although in both cases a profes- 
sion of faith in Christ brought reproach and 
persecution, they were not deterred by the 
love of friends or the fear of enemies from 
confessing his name before men. 

Among others, two brothers employed as 
catechists by the Romish priest at Mysore, 
were convinced that they had received doctrines 
but little better than those of their heathen 
ancestors, and wrote several times to the Ban- 
galore native preacher, begging an interview. 
He accordingly went to Mysore, (eighty miles 
distant,) and, by his teaching from the Bible, 
with the blessing of the Spirit of God, con- 
vinced them that it was their duty to forsake 
the Romish Church. On his arrival, informa- 



412 BANGALORE. 



tion was given to the Catholic priest, who 
commanded his people not to speak to him, 
and loaded this godly and devoted man with 
evil epithets ; saying that he was " the greatest 
devil that he had known among the Protest- 
ants." The two brothers were entreated by 
the people not to leave them, and an offer of 
double pay was made to the elder of the two. 
But bribes, threats, and hard usage were 
equally unavailing. He told them that he 
left them, not because his pay was not suf- 
ficient, but because he sought the salvation of 
his soul ; and he earnestly besought them to 
care for their eternal interests. At this, his 
enemies were the more enraged ; and coming 
to him that same evening, treated him most 
abusively, kicking and otherwise cruelly using 
him. The brothers returned not railing for 
railing, but bearing reproach with meekness, 
in the midst of it prayed, as did our Lord, for 
their persecutors. Having been taken before 
the priest, they were asked why they wished 
to leave the church of Rome. They answered 
that the church of Rome presented the broad 
way to destruction; that they were seeking the 
narrow way to eternal life ; and, therefore, 
must separate themselves from it. Upon this, 



CONSISTENT CONVERTS. 413 



tlie priest, following the example of Ananias 
of old, (Acts xxiii. 1, 2,) commanded those 
who stood near to smite him on the face. 
This was readily done, but failed to convince 
the young men of their error. Unmoved by 
these persecutions, they repaired to the Roman 
Catholic chapel to remove some images which 
were their private property. This filled the 
people with consternation, and especially the 
thoughts of the loss of an image of the Virgin 
Mary, which was regarded with unusual devo- 
tion by the poor benighted creatures. They 
offered large sums of money if this sacred 
image might be left them, only asking the 
brothers to name their price. The converts 
told them that they felt constrained to take it 
away, as it was leading them into the sin of 
idolatry ; that it was not money they wanted, 
but that as servants of Christ they could not 
suffer their property to lead their countrymen 
into sin. The brothers were next sued be- 
fore the magistrate on false charges of debt, 
but they were fully cleared, and the people re- 
strained from further violence. They were 
baptized by Shunkuru, and took the names of 
Nathaniel and Jonas. 

The history of many of the members of the 



414 BANGALORE. 

Canarese churches, gathered through the la- 
bours of the missionaries at Bangalore, is 
deeply interesting, and shows the power of the 
gospel, when made effectual by the influences 
of the Holy Spirit, to change the heart of man 
and overcome the prejudices and enlighten the 
darkness of heathen idolaters. The day after 
our arrival at Bangalore, we attended the 
Canarese service on Sunday morning. The 
sermon was on "brotherly love," by a man 
who, a few years before, would have as soon 
cut off his right hand as hold any social inter- 
course with those of a different caste. Now, 
he exhorts his fellow-Christians to love one 
another, as Christ loved them. The man who 
sat next to me was formerly a devout heathen, 
living near a hill-fort named Krishna-gherry, 
(the mountain of Krishna,) who used often to 
go out into the woods, and spend much time in 
penances and meditation in order to gain a 
knowledge of God. He once heard a mission- 
ary preach, and received a tract. This he 
studied, and by it was led, in company with 
his brother, to converse with a native Christian 
about this new way of finding God. They 
were convinced that this was the true way, and 
came to the missionaries to declare their faith 



CONFESSING CHRIST. 415 



in Christ, and ask for baptism. Having been 
examined and found worthy, they were bap- 
tized. This man had a wife and children 
whom he loved, but they were taken from him, 
as well as his living ; and he had been now 
for two years deprived of wife and children, 
and destitute of all things, for Christ's sake. 
Yet how rich in tbe promised blessing of God 
was that humble and unknown Hindu! How 
few in Christian America make such sacrifices 
for Christ ! How many from its happy and 
heaven-blessed shores will go away into outer 
darkness, as despisers of the mercy of God, 
when the poor Hindu of Krishna-gherry and 
his brethren ascend to rejoice and praise for- 
ever before the throne of God. 

Reader ! have you confessed Christ before 
nen ? " Whosoever shall confess me before 
nen," he has said, "him will I confess also 
before my Father which is in heaven ; but who- 
soever shall deny me before men, him will I 
also deny before my Father which is in heaven." 
Be persuaded to love and confess him who loved 
and died for you. 



416 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



®0 SrapptaflL 

The conveyance which carried us from Ban- 
galore to Seringapatam, and thence to the 
mountains, bore the somewhat ironical appel- 
lation of a " shigram-po," or "quick-go;" for, 
to our sorrow, we found it a most painfully 
slow-go, and, at times, a no-go. It was a 
square, two-wheeled affair, with a raised floor 
on which we laid our mattrass, and under which 
we packed our boxes, provisions, and cooking 
utensils, and was drawn by two bullocks. The 
Indian bullocks are commonly pure white, with 
horns rising directly above their foreheads, and 
curving gracefully backwards. The hump be- 
tween the shoulders, and the long dew-lap 
hanging half-way to the ground, with the pe- 
culiar curve of the horns, make them look very 
unlike our American cattle. When well kept 
and trained, they are beautiful creatures, quick, 
and perfectly obedient to the driver, who guides 
them by a small cord attached to one horn of 
each animal. We, however, found the posted 
bullocks furnished us completely worn out by 
over-work ; often at the commencement of their 



IN THE MYSORE. 417 



stage, instead of being fresh, they were quite 
exhausted, and could only be made to draw the 
carriage by cruel goadings and blows. To eat 
beef is esteemed a horrible crime by the Hindus ; 
but to kill the poor creatures by hard work 
does not trouble their consciences, if it put 
rupees into their purses. 

The road westward from Bangalore to Serin- 
gapatam runs through a hilly country, whose 
hill-sides and rolling valleys are well cultivated, 
and yield fine crops of rice and other grains to 
the cultivators. It is rendered solitary and 
deserted in appearance by the absence of the 
farm-houses, which meet the eye of the traveller 
in Western lands, enlivening the way at every 
turn with their clumps of shade-trees, barns, 
and grazing cattle. Here men live, not each 
on his own land, but clustered in villages, from 
which in the morning they issue forth to their 
labour, returning at evening like bees to their 
hive. Thus you may travel for miles through 
a populous country, and not see a house or any 
sign of life, except the little elevated lodge for 
the watchman at the time of the ripening of 
the crops. It is to these solitary sheds in the 
midst of the fields that Isaiah refers when, de- 
scribing the desolateness of his people, he says, 



418 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



" The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a 
vineyard, as a lodge in the garden of cucum- 
bers." 

It is a most remarkable fact, that while other 
countries have the whole face of society changed 
by conquest and subjection to rulers from 
foreign lands, India — though swept over by 
successive hordes of invaders, though plundered 
and divided among* contending despots, though 
transferred from hand to hand, as each dynasty 
was crushed by one more powerful than itself — 
has, to a great extent, remained unchanged. 
India now is, in its habits, feelings, and pur- 
suits, very much what it was three thousand 
years ago. The Hindu of the nineteenth cen- 
tury lives and labours, plants, ploughs, weaves, 
and reaps as did his fathers at the Christian 
era, when savages roved and chased the deer 
in the woods of ancient Britain. 

This fact is to be attributed more perhaps to 
the organization of the village government of 
India than to any other circumstance. Each 
town, with the adjacent lands, is, to a great ex- 
tent, an independent community, having its own 
rulers, its owm agriculturalists, its own police, 
and its own artisans. Though subject to the 
general government, its affairs are managed 



VILLAGE ORGANIZATION. 419 



within itself. The land is divided and recorded 
against its farmers, with its quality and extent, 
and the revenue is collected village by village. 
It matters little, therefore, to the Hindu peasant 
who is his master, so long as he is undisturbed 
in the enjoyment of his hereditary home. To 
him it is of small moment whether his rent be 
paid to "Hyder" or to "the Company," to a 
nabob or a collector. Districts have been de- 
populated, and provinces made a desert, by the 
monsters who have soaked India with human 
gore, and fattened her soil with human flesh ; 
but, until thus depopulated, her villages remain 
the same. 

Cruel as were the despots Hyder and Tippoo, 
who ruled the territory through which we w^ere 
now passing, they had the sagacity to know 
that it was only in the prosperity of their sub- 
jects that they could prosper ; and the Mysore 
territories were, on the whole, well governed. 
War, however, cannot be waged except at the 
expense of the blood, treasure, and happiness 
of the people. On our way, while we passed 
through thriving towns with their shop-lined. 
streets, and saw old forts, unneeded for defence, 
crumbling to a happy decay, we also traversed 
lonely and melancholy wastes, where the Mu- 



420 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



saljee brandished his torch, and joined his cries 
to those of the bandy-driver, to fright from our 
path the tigers who roam in these deserted 
lands. These fearful beasts are not so much 
dreaded in the dense jungle as in the waste 
places near to human dwellings. There the 
denizens of the forest furnish him his food ; but 
here, tempted by hunger to attack man, he 
ceases to dread him, and prowls about his path 
and house, ready for the deadly spring upon his 
victim. Many a poor boy has been borne away 
in the jaws of the tiger while tending his cattle; 
and many a villager trembles and starts with 
hair on end at the thought of the "man-eater" 
as he returns at dusk from his work, or stoops 
to draw water from the stream. The success- 
ful tiger-hunt of the English officer, while it 
gives most exciting amusement to the sports- 
man, takes from the minds of the poor villagers 
an ever-present and oppressive terror. 

Noon of the following day found us looking 
down from the brow of a hill upon Seringapa- 
tam, the far-famed citadel and metropolis of 
Hyder Ali and his son. Seated upon an island 
formed by the division of the stream of the 
Cavery, in the midst of a fertile plain watered 
by canals leading from the river to its many 



SERINGAPATAM. 421 



fields, it realizes to the traveller his idea of an 
oriental city. The plantations of bright green 
sugar-cane are checkered by patches of brown 
grain and stubble-fields, and give an air of 
peace and plenty ; while to the student of Indian 
history the hills and plains suggest thoughts 
of armed hosts, European and Mohammedan, 
meeting in bloody battle ; of marauding bands 
of Mahratta horsemen ; of victory and defeat, 
with all their sad train of horrors. 

In the year 1791, after the capture of Ban- 
galore, Lord Cornwallis advanced upon Serin- 
gapatam, and having captured the formidable 
hill-forts between the two cities, attacked Tippoo 
by night, and defeated him with great loss. 
Compelled to retire within his stronghold, and 
threatened by an immense array of English and 
Hindu troops, the proud sultan saw the useless- 
ness of resistance, and made peace, with the 
surrender of one-half of his territories. 

But this bloodthirsty prince, who is reported 
to have said that he would " rather live two days 
as a tiger, than a hundred days as a sheep," 
could not remain quiet while English power 
was absorbing India. War was recommenced, 
and in May, 1799, an English army again looked 
down from the heights on which we stood on 



422 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



the water-girt fortress of Seringapatam. The 
city was besieged, its walls were breached, 
and, led on by General Baird, who had him- 
self been a prisoner within the dungeons of the 
"city of Sri-Runga," the English and allied 
Hindu troops carried the place by storm. 
Tippoo, sallying out, with hereditary valour, to 
meet the victors, fell pierced by two musket- 
balls. An English soldier seized the sword- 
belt, glittering with jewels, which surrounded 
the sultan's waist ; but the prince's sword was 
still grasped in his stiffening hand, and with 
it he wounded the plunderer. The enraged 
soldier, not knowing his enemy, shot him 
through the head, and Tippoo was no more. 
Thus a dynasty set, as it rose, in blood ; and 
thus was the saying of our Lord fulfilled : 
" He that taketh the sword shall be slain by 
the sword." 

Seringapatam, no longer a metropolis, and 
scourged by fevers, is going to decay. Its 
ramparts are in ruins, and its cannon have 
been tumbled into the moat. The stranger, 
dreading the miasma which floats in its atmo- 
sphere, rarely spends a night within its walls. 
He stops to gaze at the magnificent tombs of 
Hyder and his son, in the beautiful Lai Bagh, 



TIPPOO SULTAN. 423 



(red garden,) and mourn that man should thus 
live and thus die. 

The name of Tippoo is synonymous with 
" tiger," both in the memories of Christian and 
heathen men. Being a bigoted Mohammedan, 
he not only hated the English as enemies, but 
also the native Roman Catholic and Syrian 
Christians as infidels, and the Brahmins as 
idolaters. In Calicut, he hung up mothers 
with their children suspended from their necks, 
and tied men to the feet of elephants, to be 
torn limb from limb. Hindus were forced to 
embrace Mohammedanism to save their lives, 
and Brahmins were made to break their caste 
by eating beef. Once seeing a Brahmin pass, 
he called him to him, and asked, "Where will 
you go, if you die?" "To Weicounta," (the 
heaven of Vishnu,) said the Brahmin. " Then 
send him there," said the tyrant; and fasten- 
ing rockets to his body, they blew him into 
the air. 

It will not be wondered at that the change 
of sovereignty from his hands to those of Eng- 
land, has caused little regret among his Hindu 
subjects, though the Mohammedans mourn 
that the sceptre has passed from their hands. 



424 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



f aipig to (Dotatamunir. 

Palhullt, a little village three miles distant 
from Seringapatam, is noted as the residence 
of the Abbe Dubois, the French Catholic mis- 
sionary to whom reference has already been 
made. After labouring thirty years for the 
conversion of the Hindus to Roman Catholic- 
ism, and seeking to win them to his faith by 
conformity to their customs, by concealing of- 
fensive Scripture truths, (as, for instance, the 
statement that the fatted calf "was killed* for 
the prodigal son,) and by dressing and living 
as a Brahmin, he retired from India to Europe, 
confessing that the effort had been a vain one. 

In a work published by him, he dissuades 
Protestants from missions to India, arguing 
that the Hindus are given over of God to a 
reprobate spirit, and cannot be converted. 
He reasons that, if he and his fellow-labourers, 
who have conformed in so many points to the- 
prejudices of the Hindus, have failed, much 

* The killing of a cow or calf is a heinous offence in the 
eyes of a Hindu. 



PALHULLY. 425 

more certain will be the failure of Protestant 
missionaries, who do not allow the natives such 
indulgence ! While we agree with him that 
the preaching of Roman Catholicism has been 
a failure as to changing the hearts, and lives 
even, of their converts, and would also concede 
that, if the work were of man, Protestantism 
would have very few attractions for sensual 
and degraded Hindus, we do not fear for the 
issue. Our confidence is not in man, but in God. 
With the influences of the Holy Spirit, the 
gospel can and will change the hardest heart 
and attract the most sottish soul. Of this the 
history of Christian missions furnishes abun- 
dant proof. The history of the triumphs of the 
gospel will show to the world that though with 
man the conversion of a vast nation of idolaters 
is impossible, with God all things are possible. 

Palhully is now the residence of an English 
family, who are engaged in the business of re- 
fining sugar for the market in Madras, as well 
as for exportation to England. In this re- 
tired spot we found a refined and Christian 
family circle, and were entertained for a day 
and a night with Christian hospitality. 

The manufacture of sugar by the natives is 
very rude, and leaves it in a state that renders 



426 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



it wholly worthless for European use. The 
sugar-cane is crushed in a hollowed log, some- 
times the stump of a tree as it stands rooted 
in the ground. The beam used as a pestle is 
attached to a shaft which is turned by a couple 
of oxen, and the juice drawn off by a hole 
pierced in the bottom of the trunk. This 
liquor, full of impurities, is then boiled down, 
and crystallized in black cakes that would 
hardly be recognised by us as sugar. The 
Palhully sugar company, with their steam re- 
finery, convert it into a very excellent and 
beautiful article. The only hinderance to their 
success is the great cost of transportation to 
Madras. This is a hinderance not only to this, 
but to a thousand other useful arts. When 
Christianity shall have made Hindus truthful 
and industrious, civilization will go forward, 
and the wealth of India be a hundred-fold in- 
creased. Without mutual confidence, there 
cannot be association ; and without association, 
there cannot be improvement. What India 
wants to make her a happy land is the influ- 
ences of the religion of the Bible. 

The drive of eight miles from Palhully to 
Mysore would have but little to attract the 
traveller accustomed to Indian scenes, though 



SIGHTS IN THE MYSORE. 427 



doubtless a new-comer would see much to 
interest and amuse him. A group of girls 
assembled under a mango-tree, and throwing up 
sticks and stones to knock down the green 
fruit, would carry his memory back to the 
apple-orchard of his fatherland ; but the smile 
at the amusement of the little ones would turn 
to sadness when, a few steps farther on, his 
eye caught sight of a heathen temple, or, going 
a little farther still, he saw a tree with a low 
stone wall built about its trunk, and worshipped 
as a god. He would notice two little sheds 
built of bamboo and thatched with palm-leaves, 
with a screen in front, through which a bamboo 
pipe projects. Within sits a Brahmin, paid 
by some charitable person to supply passers-by 
with water, or, perhaps, with the greater 
luxury of buttermilk. He has his water-pot 
and cup beside him ; but from these the travel- 
ler must not drink, for then it would be so de- 
filed that the next thirsty passer-by could not 
drink from it. The Brahmin inskle pours the 
water into the pipe, and the applicant, uniting 
his hands in the form of a trough, receives it as 
it falls, and drinks. Sometimes the bamboo 
trough is dispensed with, and the occupant of 
the shed pours the water into the hands of 



428 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



those who come to him for refreshment. As 
he is a Brahmin, all castes can receive food or 
drink from his hands. 

This "work of providing water for the thirsty 
is one of great merit ; indeed, according to the 
Madura Pur anna, (a sacred history,) the god 
Siva manifested himself on one occasion as a 
man for the purpose of performing this merito- 
rious act. The king of Madura, according to 
this Puranna, went forth to meet an enemy, 
with an army resembling a continuous river 
running into the sea. The two armies joined 
battle, and continued the contest for five hours, 
"when the soldiers on both sides began to faint 
from thirst. At this juncture, a water-booth 
appeared in the midst of the army of Madura, 
within which stood the god, in the guise of a 
Brahmin, with a supply of Ganges water. 
From this all who came were instantly sup- 
plied, and the recipients of the favour of the 
god, engaging with renewed vigour, were 
victorious. The cut, which is taken from the 
Hindu illustrations of the Puranna, represents 
the warriors as standing with their hands 
joined to convey the water to their mouths. 
The figure of the disguised deity gives a good 
idea of the appearance and dress of a Brahmin, 




Water-booth and Soldiers, p. 428. 



MYSORE. 429 

with the head shaved, except the coodamy or 
queue suffered to grow from the crown, and 
the body bare from the waist upwards. The 
dress of the soldiers, with the addition of an 
upper garment of cotton, would illustrate that 
of the peons or police of the present day. 

Mysore, in its general aspect, is pleasing, 
and gives an impression of prosperity and pro- 
gress. The streets are regular, and the bazaar 
(trading street) looks quite brilliant with its 
shops filled with bright -coloured silks, gay 
cotton goods, cloth, carpets, and other articles 
of merchandise. In the fruit-stalls were melons 
and white grapes, hanging in rich clusters, fair to 
the eye, and, as we found on trial, most refresh- 
ing to the parched lips of the weary invalid 
melting under a tropical sun. In an open 
space, a large number of elephants stood 
chained by the feet to well-fastened stakes, 
some feeding on long grass brought for them 
from the fields, others holding in their trunks 
large branches from the neighbouring trees, 
with which to brush the flies from their black, 
hairless sides. 

Since the fall of Seringapatam, Mysore has 
greatly increased in population, in consequence 
of its being the residence of the rajah (king) 



430 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



raised to the throne by the English after the 
death of Tippoo. His power is merely nominal ; 
the true ruler of the country is the commis- 
sioner of the Mysore territory, an English 
officer, without whose permission the rajah can 
take no step of importance. A large revenue 
is allowed him ; and, as he owes every thing to 
the English by whom he was taken from ob- 
scurity, though of kingly descent, he is content 
with his nominal royalty and its emoluments. 
His income he dispenses in a way that attracts 
a host of flatterers and parasites. Especially 
do worthless and greedy Brahmins flock about 
the palace, clinging to him as vultures to a 
carcass, for the love of what they can pluck 
from him. The whole city is corrupted by the 
influence of the court and its attendant Brah- 
mins, who completely rule the rajah. 

At first the English did not feel prepared to 
take the country entirely into their hands, and 
for the purpose of conciliating the Hindus, 
placed this child of their ancient kings (then 
but a few years old) upon the throne. He proved 
so worthless, and so completely a tool of the 
crafty and rapacious Brahmins, that the power 
given him was recalled, and the commissioner 
residing at his court constituted his guardian. 



RAJAH OF MYSORE. 431 



He amuses himself with the parade of royalty 
and with a multitude of diversions, hiring French 
circus-riders, keeping a great number of horses, 
whose stables are elegantly fitted up and hung 
with looking-glasses, and also maintaining a num- 
ber of elephants. He had a carriage constructed 
large enough to hold ninety persons, to be drawn 
by six of these huge creatures, as a royal variety 
to the usual mode of riding in a howdah on 
the elephant's back. 

The rajah is a bigoted Hindu, and com- 
pletely under Brahminic influence. In his 
palace he keeps as an object of worship a cow, 
which is covered with jewels, silver, and gold. 
About the time of our return through the city 
from the Neilgherries, he had just gone through 
with a peculiar means of getting rid of his sins. 
He had been told by his attendantBrahmin, his 
confessor and the keeper of his conscience, that 
his horoscope, calculated from the position of 
the starry constellations at his birth, showed 
that he had but two years to live. The rajah 
therefore determined to get rid of the accumu- 
lated sins of the past years. For this purpose, 
a number of Brahmins, willing to bear his gins 
for a good compensation, were collected at the 
palace. The rajah, dressed in his robes, with 



432 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



his sword to add to his weight, got into one 
scale of a balance ; the other was filled with 
gold, silver and jewels, until it weighed him 
down. These were divided with certain pre- 
scribed forms among the Brahmins who took 
his sins upon their own heads. The infatuated 
rajah believes that these men will suffer the 
penalty due him for his sins, and that he is re- 
lieved of their weight. The next day, when he 
was distributing gifts to a crowd of applicants, 
some of the scape-goats, contrary to the law 
which requires them to hide themselves from 
human gaze, with shameless cupidity came 
forward for more. The rajah, though not led 
to question the ability of these liars to bear his 
sins, was filled with rage at their effrontery, and 
drove them from his court. 

For the three millions of inhabitants of the 
Mysore there is but one European missionary, 
beside those stationed in the city of Bangalore. 
Need we then wonder that, though Christ has 
been preached in the capital, the way of salva- 
tion is so little known and heathen idolatry so 
strong ? Yet the whole country is completely 
accessible, and residence perfectly safe in any 
of its towns or villages. 

Soon may the name of Jesus, as the true sa 



THE MYSORE. 433 



crifice for sin, as the Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sins of the world, as he who hath re- 
deemed us by his blood, be known throughout 
this land ! And soon may its millions, finding 
peace with God and forgiveness of sins, join 
with us in singing the praises of redeeming 
love ! 

" Not all the blood of beasts 
On Jewish altars slain, 
Could give the guilty conscience peace, 
Or wash away the stain. 

" But Christ, the heavenly Lamb, 
Takes all our sins away ; 
A sacrifice of nobler name, 
And richer blood than they. 

' • My faith would lay her hand 
On that dear head of thine, — 
While like a penitent I stand, 
And there confess my sin. 

' My soul looks back to see 

The burdens thou didst bear, 

When hanging on the cursed tree, 

And hopes her guilt was there. 

"Believing, we rejoice 

To see the curse remove; 
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice, 
And sing his bleeding love." 

Leaving Mysore, we passed near the foot of 
a steep hill rising suddenly from the plain to 

37 



434 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



the height of a thousand feet. On its summit 
is a house belonging to the British residency, 
which gives its occupant a delightful prospect 
and the enjoyment of cool breezes. To the 
Hindus it is known as the site of two temples 
of great repute, and of a colossal bull cut from 
the rock. Hither the rajah, as well as a multi- 
tude of pilgrims, makes an annual visit for the 
purpose of idolatrous worship. 

The sun was just setting as we reached Nun- 
gengoocl, fifteen miles south of Mysore. Its 
bright rays were reflected from the gilded sum- 
mit of the pagoda of the great temple of Siva 
which stands here, making it look like a tower 
of burnished gold. How striking the contrast 
between this apparent brightness and beauty, 
and the real darkness and hatefulness of the 
place ! The temple of Nungengood is famous 
even among the temples of India for being co- 
vered all over with figures so obscene that they 
might make the vilest blush. Yet this is the 
residence of one of the supreme gods of the 
Hindus ; and the place of assembly, at certain 
seasons, for thousands of benighted idolaters, 
who come hither to adore and pray to the god 
who presides in such a dwelling. If no nation, 
as is said, will be better than its gods, what 



THE MYSORE. 435 



must be the moral character of Hindustan, as 
it appears in the eyes of Him in whose sight 
even the heavens are unclean ! 

Soon after sunset, we stopped at a traveller's 
bungalow to cook and eat a meal of rice and 
curry. We were behind our time, and anxious 
to press on ; but haste is a hard thing to make 
in India. We must have a change of bullocks, 
and that was an affair of time ; then the musal- 
jee had no torch — at last that was procured ; 
then he must have oil for his torch, but, like 
the foolish virgins of the parable, at the hour 
for starting his vessel was empty ; off he had 
to go to a neighbouring village to buy oil. At 
last all things were ready, and we were on our 
way again. Darkness brought sleep and for- 
get, ilness ; while we dreamed, it may be, of 
the magical railroad with its fiery steed and 
lightening speed, our poor sltigram-po with its 
oxen was toiling along at the rate of two miles 
an hour. On waking before daylight, it occurred 
to us that our position was rather more per- 
pendicular than was natural, and looking out, 
we found that we were quietly resting by the 
roadside, with the pole of the bandy on the 
ground, and its back pointing to the sky, while 
our driver and musaljee were seated comfortably 



436 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



beside a fire of burning straw. They were 
waiting for fresh bullocks ! 

During the night we had made just twelve 
miles, which, as we were in great haste to meet 
an appointment, was somewhat provoking. "We 
made the best of it, however, and pushed on, 
our troubles growing thicker as our bullocks 
grew more thin. We were now entering the 
jungle, a wilderness extending around the base 
of the mountains, and many miles in depth. 
The hills became steep, the road rough, the air 
close, and the sun glared fiercely on us. The 
cattle toiled over the stony way, worn out with 
labour, and seeming ready to drop. At times 
they cast themselves down in the road with ex- 
haustion and obstinacy, and would not move 
until actually lifted up. The drivers, goading, 
pushing, yelling, beating, and hauling, urged 
them on. As we mounted the hills, they called 
on their gods to help them : " Swamy ! Swamy ! 
Hanuman ! Hanuman ! (the monkey-god,) oh 
help ! help ! just get us up this hill ! get us up 
this hill, and you shall have a cocoanut !" At 
the next hill the same promise was made, and 
at the next ; but whether the god got his cocoa- 
nuts or not, I cannot say. 

We were to have reached the foot of the 



THE JUNGLE. 437 



mountains by early morning, so as to meet a 
conveyance sent down for us by friends to 
whom we had written, as our " shigrani-po" 
would not ascend the heights. It was two 
o'clock in the afternoon, however, when we 
reached the Bandipoor bungalow, a rest-house 
on a hill-top, and twenty miles of jungle were 
yet between us and the mountain's base. To 
go on would have compelled us to spend the 
night amid the malaria of the jungle, with an 
almost certainty of contracting the deadly 
" jungle-fever ;" and to stop would be to render 
it uncertain whether we should find any means 
of ascending the mountains on our arrival at 
Seegoor. We stopped, however, and spent the 
night at the lonely bungalow, as it seemed the 
less evil of the two. We managed to procure 
a chicken for ourselves and one for the bandy- 
men, and had a dinner of the never-failing rice 
and curry. Our little sick boy owed his supper 
of milk to the fact that a tiger had the night 
before carried oif two kids from the flock of a 
company of Kuravers who were encamped 
close by. These Kuravers are semi-savages, 
and wander from place to place, carrying with 
them their houses, which are mere bamboo 
baskets inverted. They do not usually milk 

37* 



438 NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



their goats, but they sold us the milk of the 
dam that had lost its kids. 

We were up with the morning Star, and by 
daylight had our bandy repacked, our cattle 
yoked, and resumed our journey ; but our speed 
did not improve. As we neared the Neilgher- 
ries, our road grew more hilly, rough, and pre- 
cipitous ; and the posted bullocks were utterly 
worn out. It was painful to be drawn by them, 
but to stop where we were was impossible. We 
were now in the midst of the jungle, a wilder- 
ness thinly or densely wooded, and the home 
of bears, tigers, leopards, and wild elephants. 
Men have frequently been carried by tigers 
from the public road ; and not long since a young 
English officer was here killed by an enraged 
wild elephant which he had imprudently at- 
tacked. We had not the pleasure of seeing any 
of these savage rangers of the forest, for we 
passed through the jungle by the high road 
and in broad daylight, when they usually hide 
away in their lairs. 

At length we found ourselves actually at 
Seegoor, with the massive mountains, whose 
summits had caught our eye and cheered our 
way from time to time, towering high before 
us. To our great joy there, too, was a light 






SEEGOOR GHAUT. 439 



bandy with four bullocks, waiting to carry us to 
the higher regions towards which we had so long 
been wearily journeying. It was two in the 
afternoon, and the thermometer stood at 93° ; 
but, under the shelter of a little hut by the 
road-side, we changed our light garments for 
woollen clothing, to be ready for the cooler 
atmosphere above us. Transferring the lug- 
gage from our transit bandy to three coolies' 
heads, we gladly commenced the ascent. 

The mountains rose eight thousand feet in 
height, clothed with wood and shrubbery, and 
broken by deep ravines, down which ran moun- 
tain streams. The hill-sides were on fire. 
Long lines of flame stretched hundreds of feet 
upwards, and columns of smoke rolled on high 
to mingle with the cloudless blue of the skies. 
It seemed a great altar sending up its incense 
before God its Creator. 

The road, starting at the base of the hills, 
crept along the declivity awhile, then turning, 
zig-zagged its way up the face of the mountain- 
side ; reaching a deep-setting ravine, again it 
wound its upward course with a brawling brook 
far down the precipice on its right, and the 
steep mountain rising high on its left. Sunset 
found us about half-way up the pass. The road 



440 THE NEILGHERMES. 



stretched its tortuous course before us, -while 
behind us lay the country we had crossed, look- 
ing in the distance like a vast field, with the 
hills scarcely perceptibly raised above its sur- 
face, and its woods forming but a soft green 
carpet to the plain. Saturday night was closing 
upon us, and we^must press on. The night air 
seemed cold, (it was forty degrees below that of 
the plain,) and our exhaustion was extreme. 
Never was a shelter more grateful than when, 
Weary, sick, and faint, at ten o'clock, we reached 
the mountain-plain above, and received a warm 
welcome and sat down before a warm fire, sur- 
rounded by Christian friends in Ootacamund. 

" In foreign realms and lands remote, 
Supported by thy care, 
Through burning climes I passed unlrart, 
And breathed in tainted air." 



It was hard for us to realize, on rising the 
day after our arrival at Ootacamund, that we 
were still in India; and that from the peak 
just* over against our window we could look 



OOTACAMUND. 441 



clown upon the burning plains over winch we 
had so wearily made our way. Two good 
blankets were on the bed, and a carpet on the 
flooV ; a wood-fire was burning in the grate, and 
there, too, was a chimney, (a thing unknown 
below,) with tongs and wheezing bellows, and 
close-shutting glass windows. 

On going into the fresh, cool morning air, a 
strange luxury to the lungs, we found ourselves 
in front of a pretty residence on the summit of 
an elevation which sloped gently down to a 
little lake embosomed amid hills, and winding 
among their almost meeting bases. Along its 
margin ran a good red road; and neat houses, 
white-walled and red-roofed, were dotted here 
and there on the sides and levelled tops of the 
hills. Across the lake, on a prominent eleva- 
tion, stood a village church ; and behind it a 
high ridge bounded the view, and formed a fine 
background to the scene. It would have been 
easy to have imagined, if we had faith in the 
Arabian tales, that we had seated ourselves 
upon a magic rug, and had been transported 
from sultry India, the land of the palm-tree 
and the banana, to some sweet spot in the 
Scottish Highlands. We were, however, still 



442 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



in India — the land not of sultry plains alone, 
but also of noble mountains. 

The Neilgherry Hills are a range of moun* 
tains in Southern India, with a base two hun- 
dred miles in circumference, lying between the 
two ranges known as the Eastern and Western 
Ghauts. Though separate from both, they form 
a connecting link between the two, as they ap- 
proach each other towards the termination of 
the peninsula. A deep jungle stretches on 
every side around the base of the mountains, 
giving a home to all the savage beasts of In- 
dian forests, and rendered almost uninhabitable 
by a deadly miasm. 

From out of this vast wilderness the moun- 
tains rise in an irregular square to the height 
of eight thousand feet. On gaining the sum- 
mit of the Seegoor Pass, the traveller finds 
before him an elevated table-land, rather than 
a mountain-top, broken in every direction by 
hills, ridges, and valleys, sinking sometimes to 
an altitude of six thousand feet above the level 
of the sea, and in the highest peak rising to 
near nine thousand feet. Raised above all other 
mountains south of the Himalayas, their 
summits are seen in every direction clothed in 
the blue of the surrounding atmosphere : hence 



A DISCOVERY. 443 



their name of Nilagiri, nila (pronounced necla) 
meaning blue ; and giri, (girrey,) mountain. 
By the English they are known as the " Neil- 
gherry Hills." 

The English for years had possession of 
Coimhatoor and Mysore, the provinces below 
the mountains, without suspecting the existence 
of the fair and healthful retreat that lay upon 
their blue tops. It was known, however, that 
tobacco was smuggled from the district of Co- 
imbatoor across the range to the western coast, 
and that there must be a passable way over 
the hills. About thirty years since,' two revenue 
officers resolved to follow these smugglers to 
their haunts. Climbing, with the help of guides, 
the steep and rugged path by which alone the 
mountains were then scaled, they at last reached 
the summit, and found, to their amazement and 
delight, a lovely country of hill and dale, pas- 
ture, woodland, and cultivated fields, spreading 
for miles before them. Invigorated by the cool 
air, and captivated with the scene, they reported 
the discovery in brilliant colours, and pioneered 
their countrymen to this truly charming retreat 
from the heat of the plains below. 

While these mountains perform a most im- 
portant part in the physical economy of South- 



444 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



ern India, condensing into rain the watery 
vapours borne upon the two periodical winds 
called monsoons from the seas of Arabia and 
Bengal, and sending them in streams to water 
the lowlands, they also seem in a remarkable 
way to have been built by God as a health-re- 
treat for invalids languishing under a tropical 
sun. Here, within three hours' ride of the in- 
tense heat of the torrid zone, you enjoy a cli- 
mate delightfully mild and agreeable, though 
from its peculiarity not equal to that of the 
temperate zone. The mornings and evenings 
are always cool, nor at mid-day does the ther- 
mometer rise above 70° in the shade. The 
direct rays of the sun at noon are powerful ; 
but when out of these direct rays, you are 
always cool. In January and February a slight 
coating of ice is fouM upon the ponds in the 
morning, and in the warmest season woollen 
clothes are not laid aside. 

The total change of the vegetation from that 
of the plains adds to the charm of the place. 
Instead of the cocoanut, date, and mango, you 
have in the ravines dense forests of trees allied, 
not to those of the torrid, but to those of the 
temperate zone ; and in place of the oleander 
and the lotus and other flowers of the plains, 



THE TODARS. 445 



you find hill-sides dotted all over with ane- 
monies and buttercups ; and gather violets, 
honey-suckles, and dog-roses under the shade 
of homelike forest-trees. 

Ootacamund, the chief English station on 
the hills, lies in a hilly basin near the centre 
of this mountain-land, and has about two hun- 
dred houses for English residents. Some 
families remain here permanently ; the greater 
part are sojourners, in search of health and 
invigoration. A few good roads furnish drives, 
while a multitude of bridle-paths cross the hills, 
and permit you to ride to many points of inte- 
rest ; but the change of climate allows you 
once more to use your limbs freely, and to walk 
for miles at a time among scenes beautiful, 
novel, and often grand. 



f jota ni fir* HitairL 



The Neilgherries, though till lately unoccu- 
pied by the English, have not been uninhabited. 
They were found to be the home of several 
quite distinct races, numbering in all some 
thirteen or fourteen thousand souls. Of these 

38 



446 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



tribes, the most ancient and interesting are the 
Todars. Their number is small, not exceeding 
seven hundred ; but their entire distinctness in 
many respects from the Hindus of the plains, 
makes them worthy of special notice. In ap- 
pearance they are very striking, being tall and 
athletic, and of a bold, independent bearing. 
They wear no head-dress but their jet-black 
hair, which is parted in front, and curled in a 
bushy mass all over their heads, and meets in 
heavy black whiskers and beard beneath the 
chin. Their eyes are black, and the nose 
aquiline. Their clothing consists of a short 
under-garment fastened about the middle, and 
an upper mantle wrapped about the body and 
thrown over the left shoulder. The right arm 
is exposed, and usually grasps a staff. The feet 
are always bare. They carry no weapons, and, 
in fact, have no weapons whatever, beyond a 
staff. Of war they know nothing. 

The women wear their hair curled in long 
tresses on each side of the face, and have a 
self-possession with strangers quite unknown 
among the Hindus of the plains. They are 
ready to chat with the stranger, and have 
smiles almost constantly on their faces. 

The houses of the Todars are called munds, 




Todar house, and family, p. 446. 



TODAR MUNDS. 447 



and are built with two semicircular ends of 
upright planks, and an arched roof thatched 
with straw. They are usually placed three or 
four together on the skirt of a piece of wood- 
land, with a sloping pasture before them, and 
form a picturesque addition to the scenery of 
the hills. They are poor places for residence, 
however, as they are but about twelve feet deep 
by eight feet wide, without any chimney for the 
escape of smoke. The door, which is the only 
mode of entrance both for air and light, as well 
as for the family, is but thirty inches in height, 
and less in width. It is well that the Todars 
are not given to corpulence, or they might find 
it difficult to enter their homes, or, when once 
in, to get out again. 

Near the house in which a Todar family lives 
always stands another of the same construction, 
used as a dairy, and surrounded by a stone 
wall ; and, close by the dairy, a stone enclosure 
for the herd of buffaloes. This herd constitutes 
the whole property of the Todar patriarch, (for 
they will not even keep cows, so highly reve- 
renced by the Hindus,) and to tend and milk 
the buffaloes, and churn their milk into butter 
and ghee, is his sole occupation. Their mode 
of life is exceedingly simple, as they eat no 



448 NEILGHEKRY HILLS. 



meat, living on the produce of their herds and 
the grains paid to them as the lords of the soil 
by another class called Badagas or Burghers. 
It has been a matter of much curiosity, among 
those interested in the origin of the Hindu 
races, to ascertain the language and religion 
of this apparently aboriginal tribe. Their lan- 
guage is evidently a form of the primitive stock 
from which the old Tamil and Canarese were 
drawn, and not at all based on the Sanscrit. 
Many of their words are Tamil words, pro- 
nounced with a deep pectoral enunciation. This 
would tend to show that the Tamil and Ca- 
narese races, allied to one another, dwelt in 
Southern India before the Brahmins introduced 
Sanscrit, and that these mountaineers are a 
part of the same race, who, separated from 
contact with the modern Hindu nations, have 
retained the ancient language of the land. This 
is still further shown by the interesting fact 
that they know nothing whatever of the Brah- 
minic religion, now spread all over India. Of 
the great Hindu triad, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, 
they know nothing ; nor of Ganesha, Kali, 
Lachmy, and the thousand other gods of the 
modern Hindus. Nor have they idols as objects 
of worship. They offer some slight homage to 



RELIGION OF TIIE TODARS. 449 



an unknown being, but have little religion of 
any kind. So far as they have any worship, it 
is connected with the dairy in which the milk 
is kept and churned. Into this the women are 
not allowed to enter ; nor the men, until after 
performing certain cleansing ceremonies. 

They have also temples built in a circular 
form, with a conical thatched roof, terminating 
in a point, capped by a stone ; but in these 
also there is the same absence of Hindu idols. 
On one occasion I had an opportunity of enter- 
ing one of these temples, and of making an 
examination as to the presence of idols. The 
Todars, not wishing to seem unlike their neigh- 
bours, always tell you that there is an image 
within ; and to deter intruders from entering, 
inculcate the idea that to approach the temple 
would be attended with danger. I found, how- 
ever, no such object of worship. With some 
difficulty I managed to remove the heavy slab 
of wood which served as a door and played in 
a groove within, and squeezed my body through 
the narrow opening. The apartment was small, 
and contained nothing but the dairy imple- 
ments ; it was separated by a partition of up- 
right planks from an inner room. The door to 
the second room was, if any thing, still smaller, 



450 NEILCxIIEERY HILLS. 



but turning upon my side I effected an entrance. 
It was totally dark, except as the rays of light 
traversed the two doorways ; but my eyes 
became accustomed to the darkness, and for 
further assurance I passed my hands around 
the wall. I found, however, no object of wor- 
ship. In one corner was a stone on which was 
laid a pile of buffalo-butter, doubtless with some 
vague notion of worship ; it is said that liba- 
tions of milk are offered to a lighted lamp upon 
this stone. But of Hinduism, it may be as- 
serted, they are quite ignorant ; it must have 
entered Southern India since this ancient tribe 
took up their abode — perhaps driven hither by 
invasion from the north — upon these mountains. 
Early travellers, charmed with the simple cha- 
racter and patriarchal mode of life of these 
mountain herdsmen, isolated for centuries in 
their highland homes while revolutions raged 
below, gave so glowing a description of their 
habits and morals, that a distinguished modern 
historian in Germany expresses the hope that 
missionaries will not be permitted to enter this 
Eden and disturb its happy state of tranquil vir- 
tue and contentment. But alas ! the Todars are 
not exceptions to the universal stain of human 
depravity. Here, as elsewhere, man is found 



HABITS OF THE TODARS. 451 



to be sinful and to need a Saviour. The Todars, 
though in many respects pleasing and simple, 
are, nevertheless, slothful, given to lying, and, 
in their social relations, degraded. They have 
been in the habit of killing their female infants, 
and of making amends for the difference in the 
number of the sexes by allotting one wife to 
several husbands. Their views of a future state 
are dark, and their sense of responsibility for 
their acts to a higher power very dull. The 
historian need have no apprehension of the 
Todars receiving injury from Christian minis- 
ters, though they may lose their simplicity by 
contact with thoughtless and godless Euro- 
peans. 

A hill, partly covered by a dense wood, and 
in part bare of trees, but clothed to its summit 
with grass, rose at the back of the house in 
which we lodged while at Ootacamund. Be- 
tween it and us was a deep valley, through which 
a little stream found its way towards the low- 
lands. About half-way up this hill, and in a 
bray in the forest, was a Todar mund which I 
often passed in my morning rambles. By means 
of my Tamil, I managed to form an acquaint- 
ance with the family, whose herd of buffaloes 
was pastured on the hill-side. The head of the 



452 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



household calling on me one morning, told me 
that there was to be a funeral ceremony for a 
deceased member of his tribe, on a hill some 
five miles distant, and offered to be my guide 
to the place. Having never witnessed a scene 
of the kind, I accepted his invitation, and in 
company with one or two companions started 
for the place chosen for the funeral rites. 

It was a lovely day, the sun shining brightly 
on hill and valley, and our guide strode rapidly 
on to point out the way, while we followed up 
hill and clown on horses. The mound-like emi- 
nences which we crossed were mostly destitute 
of wood and of animal life. Though in the 
forests there are deer, elk, jackals, leopards, 
and other beasts, you see but little of them in 
passing over the hills by day. Occasionally, 
on a sunny slope, we would see the mund of 
some Todar family, with a herd of a hundred 
or a hundred and fifty buffaloes feeding near it. 
As we approached them, the ungainly creatures 
would raise their heads, snuff the air, and roll- 
ing their wild black eyes, draw together as if 
to attack us. A charge upon them with shouts, 
however, always put them to flight. On many 
of the hill-tops ancient burial-places, in the 
form of circular stone-walled cairns, are found ; 






TODAR FUNERAL. 453 



but of their occupants or builders even the 
Todars have no tradition. 

At length, passing through a little stream, 
and climbing a steep hill, we came in sight of 
the mourners. They were assembled to the 
number of two hundred, as is their custom, 
about midway up a gently-sloping hill, and 
near a pretty wood. A single house, built for 
the purpose, contained the females and chief 
mourners of the family. The others were ga- 
thered in groups in the open air. Many of the 
men were most patriarchal in their appearance, 
and carried the imagination back to the days 
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not far off 
sat a company of Koliaters, another of the hill 
tribes, with filthy robes and tangled locks, 
waiting like vultures for the flesh of the sacri- 
fices. These degraded creatures are the arti- 
sans of the Neilgherries, the smiths and potters 
of the other tribes ; they also cultivate the soil, 
but they are, in their habits of life, far below 
the Todars. They are not only flesh-eaters, 
but eaters of carrion. If a bullock dies of dis- 
ease, they mark the spot, and returning when 
the owner has left it to rot, cut the flesh from 
its bones and carry it to their homes. I have 
met a company of them bearing a load of meat 



454 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



hung upon a pole between two men, when its 
smell even in passing was most offensive. 

The deceased had died a month before, and 
had then been burned, with the offering of sa- 
crifices ami oiier rites, so that this was a 
second funeral. A few fragments of the bones 
of the dead had been preserved, and now, 
wrapped in a mantle, were laid on the ground 
in front of the house of mourning. On the 
preceding day the company had mourned and 
fasted ; on this day they met to continue the 
ceremonies. When all were assembled, a num- 
ber of young men, each with a heavy staff on 
his shoulder, forming themselves into platoons 
and holding hands, commenced a peculiar 
inarching dance, going round and round in a 
circle, with loud guttural cries of "Haugh! 
haugh ! haugh ! haugh!" until they were ex- 
hausted. Others then took their places and 
continued the club-dance. The mantle con- 
taining the relics of the dead was now brought 
forward and spread upon the ground, and some 
thirty or forty of the younger men, throwing 
aside their upper garments, moved to a stone- 
walled pen hard by, in which a number of buf- 
faloes were confined. With their staves in 
their hands they leaped into the enclosure, and 



TODAR FUNERAL. 455 



with loud shouts marched, as before, around 
its area, driving the buffaloes with blows before 
them. Suddenly, two of them sprang upon one 
of the buffaloes, and each seizing it by a horn, 
threw their whole weight upon its neck, hang- 
ing with one hand to the horn, while, with the 
other, they grasped the cartilage of its nose. 
The half-maddened and powerful beast plunged 
and tossed its head, but others leaped upon it, 
while others still, with loud yells, beat it with 
their clubs. The buffalo drove among the herd 
and against the stone wall, plunging and toss- 
ing its head to disengage its assailants; but it 
was in strong hands, and finally was led and 
driven without the enclosure to the place where 
lay the relics of the dead. Forcing its nostrils 
down to the mantle, they held it while the sa- 
crificer, with the blunt end of a small axe, 
struck it in the forehead. The huge beast 
quivered and fell, breathing out its life upon 
the relics of the dead, whose spirit it was sup- 
posed to accompany into the future world. 

One after another, seven buffaloes were thus 
overpowered and slain before the dead. While 
the slaughtered beasts were lying thus upon 
the green, the mourners drew near, and seating 
themselves upon the ground, began to wail. 



456 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



Seated in pairs, they laid their foreheads to- 
gether and sobbed aloud; the tears rolled down 
their cheeks in streams, and they presented the 
appearance of the deepest anguish. Two, who 
had thus been Weeping on each other's shoulder, 
would separate and unite themselves to other 
mourners, saluting one another in a style pecu- 
liar to these mountaineers : the man stretching 
out a foot, the female applied her forehead to 
it, and then did the same with the other foot ; 
after this they united their tears and sobs. 
Gradually the number of the mourners in- 
creased, the wail swelling and deepening until 
the beautiful hill-side became a very Bochim — a 
place of tears. Although we knew that this 
burst of grief was but a working up of excited 
feelings in many, and a feigned thing with 
others, it could not be beheld without emotion. 
I turned homeward with a heart full of sadness 
for these mourning families. These funeral 
rites, so vain, so meaningless, so void of all 
power to help the soul, were but an index 
to the darkness that reigned within the as- 
sembled multitude. Oh, why has God made me 
to differ from these heathen ? Why is it that 
I know Jesus to be the resurrection and the 
life, while darkness broods on their minds ? 



THE BADAGAS. 457 



Why is it that when friends depart, I sorrow 
not as those who are without hope ? May we, 
who have been enlightened from on high, un- 
derstand the gift of God, and not sink to a 
more hopeless grave by turning from the 
proffers of eternal life in Jesus Christ ! 



About four miles from Ootacamund, and in 
the bosom of one of the loveliest basins of the 
Neilgherries, is the home of the German mis- 
sion to the peasantry of the mountains. Look- 
ing down from the saddle of the higher Ootaca- 
mund Valley, its appearance is most charming. 
The road winds its zigzag way down a steep 
hill-side to a rolling surface of rounded hills in 
a high state of cultivation, and dotted here and 
there with villages, while the slopes of the 
heights rising beyond are all green and gold 
with fields of wheat, barley, and other grains. 
Beyond these the summits of still higher peaks 
mingle with the blue of the sky. 

The Kaytee-house was built entirely away 
from European society by Lord Elphinstone, 



458 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



then governor-general of India. It was pur- 
chased after his departure from the Neilgher- 
ries by a civilian high in rank, and as high in 
Christian character. This godly man per- 
sonally laboured with the villagers about him, 
and invited the German missionaries on the 
western coast to commence a mission among 
that part of the hill population known as the 
Badagas or Burghers. At his death, he left 
the house with other property for the continu- 
ance of the mission commenced under his 
auspices. Now, despoiled of its rich furniture, 
its carpets, and mirrors, it is the dwelling of 
three simple-hearted and earnest German mis- 
sionaries. The library has become a chapel, 
and poor, half-naked Badagas move where once 
gay lords and ladies assembled for the feast 
and dance. Little did Lord Elphinstone think 
that he was laying out grounds, planting trees, 
and building halls for these humble, but not 
less honourable men. 

The Badagas (changed to Burghers by the 
English) are the farmers of the Neilgherries. 
They are now some twelve thousand in number, 
and, as their name indicates, came from the 
north. According to their own account, their 
ancestors fled to the hills six generations since, 



BADAGA SUPERSTITION. 459 



to escape the evils which followed on the over- 
throw of an old dynasty in the Mysore. Their 
language, the Canarese, is somewhat corrupted, 
but they are in all respects Hindus. To the 
Todars, as lords of the soil, they pay tribute 
of grain ; for though superior to them in civiliza- 
tion, they are inferior to them in moral and 
physical force. 

In religion, they are, like the people of the 
plain, worshippers of Siva in the form of the 
Linga, of Bursawa, the bull on which he rides, 
and of other Hindu deities. Their superstition 
is unbounded. Mr. Metz, of the Kay tee mis- 
sion, greatly shocked them by his contempt of 
their fears. On the mission grounds stood a 
tree to which, in former times, they had been 
accustomed to offer sacrifices, regarding it as 
the residence of a god. By the predecessors 
of the missionaries this had been overlooked, 
but these sturdy followers of Luther would 
allow no idolatry on their j)remises. As the 
people of the neighbouring village were deter- 
mined to continue their sacrifices, Mr. Metz 
announced his resolution to cut the tree down; 
they remonstrated, but in vain ; they sent to 
the policemen for help, but the missionary was 
not to be frightened by the belted peon, (con- 



460 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



stable.) Axe in hand, he repaired to the tree. 
The Burghers warned him not to tempt the 
power of the god, and, when the axe fell with 
vigorous strokes upon its abode, foretold his 
sudden death, assuring him that the god would 
enter his body and kill him. The missionary 
plied his axe, calling on the god to come out 
and do his worst, until the tree was felled to 
the ground. Like the inhabitants of Melita, 
" They looked when he should have swollen or 
fallen down dead suddenly;" but when they 
saw that no harm came to him, they knew not 
what to say. Had he met with any accident 
or sickness months after this feat, it would have 
been set down as an evidence of the power and 
anger of the god. 

The Badagas have an extreme superstitious 
fear of another tribe, the Curumbars, who live 
far down in the ravines and clefts of the moun- 
tains, two thousand feet above the level of the 
sea. They are about a thousand in number, 
and, w T hile following a rude kind of cultivation, 
live largely upon their reputation as sorcerers. 
So greatly do the Badagas dread their magical 
powers, that if sick they will impute it to the 
incantations of some poor Curumbar whom 
they may have met when crossing the moun- 



HILL TRIBES. 461 



tains. Indeed, scarce a misfortune befalls them 
but it is charged upon the sorcery of their 
neighbours. On one occasion, disease attacked 
the inhabitants of a village at the same time 
that a murrain carried off many of their cattle. 
There was not a doubt in the minds of the peo- 
ple that a Curumbar had done them this mis- 
chief by his sorceries. After watching some 
time for an opportunity, a number of them sur- 
rounded him in open day, and barbarously 
murdered the poor wretch. By the Badagas 
this was looked upon as a righteous punishment 
of a sorcerer ; but the English authorities, not 
taking the same view of it, hanged one of the 
murderers. Need we say more to show that 
the teachings of the Bible are as much needed 
in these lovely mountain villages as in the 
towns and cities of the plains ? 

The state of morals among the Badagas is 
deplorably low ; and, as they are devoid of 
education, the work of their enlightenment and 
conversion must involve an expenditure of 
much time and labour. Still, we doubt not that 
the lately-commenced efforts of these excellent 
men will in due time be crowned with success. 
When an entrance is fairly made into the mass, 
we may expect the work to go rapidly on. They 

39* 



462 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



now confess the folly of idolatry, and say that 
they wait for some to set them the example of 
embracing Christianity, so that they may not 
stand alone among their brethren and encoun- 
ter the persecution of the nation. 

In company with one of the German brethren, 
I had the pleasure of making an excursion 
among the villages of the Badagas lying to the 
south of Ootacamund. My companion was a 
true German, with his broad-skirted blue coat, 
and eyes as blue, honest, open face, and square- 
built person, he looked the man he was, simple- 
hearted, mild, persevering, and hardy. In his 
hand he carried a stout staff with a heavy brass 
head, for the purpose of defence from the buf- 
faloes while journeying on foot from village to 
village over the hills. 

Our road, or rather our way — for road there 
was none — lay over and among the mountain- 
ridges. Some of the hill-sides were clothed 
with dense woods. These woods abound with 
flowers : jessamines hang in fragrant festoons 
from the boughs of tall trees, with parasites, 
air-plants, and orchids of various hues, while 
the prickly branches of the blackberry and 
raspberry, with other shrubs, often make the 
forest almost impenetrable. Within the dark 



WILD BEASTS. 463 



recesses of these groves, leopards, wild dogs, 
jackals, bears, and, more rarely, tigers, lie con- 
cealed, going forth by night to seek their prey. 
One village was pointed out to me which had 
been deserted by its inhabitants, because a 
woman had been carried oif by a tiger from a 
neighbouring forest; and while we were on the 
hills, a poor shikaree (native hunter) was killed 
by one of these savage beasts while with a party 
beating the woods for some English sportsmen. 
Happily, they rarely attack man if not pursued 
or brought to bay, excepting, as has been before 
mentioned, in the case of "the man-eater," 
who, having tasted human blood, seems to hunt 
for men, lying in wait for them with wonder- 
ful craft. In such cases their ravages are fear- 
ful. Although I was constantly wandering 
through the forests, while on the hills, none of 
these dangerous neighbours showed themselves 
to me : if I passed their lairs, they kept quietly 
within them ; yet, in some dark, dense, jungly- 
places, I would at times have a nervous inclina- 
tion to look over my shoulder to see if I had 
company. One morning, while walking, staff 
in hand, upon a hill-side, I met a leopard ap- 
parently returning, from a night excursion, to 
his den. He came slowly up the declivity as I 



464 NEJLGHERRY HILLS. 



was walking around it, so that our paths would 
have just met. I stood still, however, and had 
a good opportunity to see him, as he did not 
notice me until within some twenty yards or so 
of where I stood ; he then raised his head, and 
seeing a stranger, politely left me the open hill- 
side, while he turned into a bit of wood close 
by. In form, he was full, round, and grace- 
ful, with a tawny coat beautifully covered with 
black spots. As his behaviour was so proper, 
I was pleased to have had a sight of an un- 
caged citizen of the jungle. Jackals are very 
numerous and bold, and make constant forays 
into the barn-yards. Porcupines also are trou- 
blesome, doing much mischief to the gardens. 

The district through which we passed was, 
to a great degree, under culture, and many of 
the views were exceedingly pleasing. The pe- 
culiar rounded shape of most of the hills allow 
them to be ploughed from the base to the sum- 
mit, and the village is usually placed on the 
sunny side, a little below the highest point. 
The kinds of grain most cultivated are wheat 
and barle} r , with others not known in America. 
The prince's-feather is grown for its seed, which 
is used for food. They sow in May, and reap 
in September ; and, no sooner is the crop ga- 



HUSBANDRY. 465 



thered in, than another of some different grain 
or pulse is sown, to he reaped in December 
or January. The fact that the Neilgherries 
receive the rains of two monsoons, — one from 
the south-west, and one from the north-east, — 
enables the Burghers thus to make two crops 
in every year without any very great effort. 
One of their grains very much resembles timo- 
thy-grass ; another is ragee, a small seed from 
which a coarse black bread is made. This ragee 
is a staple article of food in the Mysore terri- 
tory, and is greatly praised by the Mysoreans 
as a substantial diet. One of them, comparing 
it with rice, remarked that the Madras man eat 
his rice, and an hour after it was all gone; but 
he eat his ragee in the morning, and he had 
something to go upon, for "here it lies," said 
he, patting his stomach, "like a cannon-ball 
all day." It is not commonly known that, 
cheap as rice is in India, millions of Hindus 
cannot afford to buy it, but live on inferior 
seeds and grains. The habits of eating among 
the Badagas are very simple : the grain is 
parched, pounded, and then eaten, mixed with 
water and a little salt. As you cross a rivulet, 
you will see a company of them squatting be- 
side it, unloosening a little store of Hour tied 



466 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



in the corner of their cloths, and eating their 
frugal meal, made by mixing it with water 
dipped from the stream. 

The little house at Waderoo to which my 
companion piloted me, and in which he lived 
when in this part of the hills, was a mere hut, 
with mud walls and a roof of thatched grass. 
His own mattrass he gave to me, and soon made 
himself another by filling a large bag with 
straw. A chest contained his lamp and house- 
keeping apparatus, which was simple, but enough 
for his moderate wants. Accustomed, if neces- 
sary, to eat with the Badagas or sleep in the 
verandah of their houses, he did not require 
many luxuries in his dwelling. The situation 
of the house was most charming, as it stood 
upon the summit of a hill surrounded by culti- 
vated fields, and in sight of a number of Badaga 
villages. Several of these we visited, and 
were very kindly received, for all recognised a 
friend in their missionary, and discussed with 
him their quarrels and business with great 
freedom. He told them that Ms business with 
them concerned higher matters, but these, as 
yet, have but little interest for the villagers of 
the i^eilgherries. To them, this life is all-im- 
portant ; the next, a matter of slight moment. 



BADAGA VILLAGE. 467 



The villages of the Badagas are built with 
the houses standing in a row, each adjoining 
its neighbour, so that one roof covers the whole 
street. Sometimes a second street is built im- 
mediately back of the first, and in the same 
manner. The eaves of the roof in front are 
prolonged, so as to cover in a narrow verandah, 
on which the men sit or lounge when not at 
work. Before the houses is a level, hard-beaten 
area, bounded by a low stone wall. This is the 
thrashing-floor ; and, as our visit was in Sep- 
tember, it was being used for that purpose. 
Their mode of procedure struck me as a most 
lazy substitute for what is known as thrashing 
to the American farmer. A sheaf was laid on 
the ground, and a woman, with her cotton 
mantle wrapped directly around her body be- 
neath the arms, taking a light stick, whipped 
the heads of the wheat until they were empty — 
all the while laughing, talking, and joking; 
while the men looked indolently on, or separated 
the grain from the chaff by pouring it from a 
basket to the ground in the wind. Some of 
their grains are thrashed by driving oxen over 
them on a circular hard-beaten floor. As you 
see the oxen stooping to take up a mouthful of 
straw while they walk their monotonous round, 



468 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



you are reminded of the command, " Thou shalt 
not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth 
out the corn." A large share of the agricul- 
tural labours falls to the lot of the women, who, 
as in all heathen countries, are made the drudges 
of the family. Although neat in their villages, 
the Badagas cannot be praised for cleanliness 
of person or of dress. As they are in the habit 
of oiling their bodies, and not in the habit of 
washing their robes, the latter become so fra- 
grant in the process of time, that a blind man 
would have no difficulty in telling when a Ba- 
daga passed him in the road. True religion 
makes men seek cleanliness in the outer man 
as well as holiness in the inner man, while 
heathenism tends to filthiness in person and 
dress, as well as to unholiness of soul. 

At the funeral of a Burgher of some note, 
which I attended on another occasion and in 
another part of the mountains, some of the 
ceremonies struck me as peculiar. When we 
arrived at the village, the verandah of the united 
row of houses composing it was filled with a 
large company of friends and acquaintances, 
and many more were assembled in the area in 
front of the houses, or on the stone wall by 
which it was enclosed. In the centre of this 



BADAGA FUNERAL. 469 



area was a pyramidal bier, four stories in height, 
in the lowest story of which the body was placed, 
while long pieces of white cotton-cloth floated 
from the corners of the upper stories. A num- 
ber of Kohatars were in attendance as musi- 
cians, and from their horns and pipes extorted 
most doleful sounds ; while a large number of 
the mourners, with loud outcries, performed a 
singular dance around the bier, moving slowly 
round and round with their arms stretched out 
at length. My companion, Mr. Biihler, had 
taken his seat at some little distance on the 
area wall, and gathered quite a company about 
him to listen to his discourse. In the midst of 
it, the whole multitude, with a sudden rush, 
drove past us and up the hill, carrying off all 
the auditors but one, whose politeness led him 
to remain and tell us that they were going to 
the cattle-pen. We followed, and found a num- 
ber of cattle in a large stone enclosure, which 
was almost knee-deep with dung. Into this 
mass of filth, a number of young men leaped, 
and seizing one of the animals, led it out of the 
fold, but not until they were completely be- 
daubed with ordure. After a short invocation, 
the resisting and struggling creature, upon 
whom the sins of the dead were supposed to be 

40 



470 NEILGHERRT HILLS. 



laid, was let go, and, with loud shouts, driven 
from the village, bearing away with it the guilt 
of the departed. 

The bier was now carried a short distance 
down the hill, and, the body having been re- 
moved from it, new ceremonies were gone 
through with. Prayers were offered for the 
safe passage of the dead over an imaginary 
river in the spirit world, and a piece of money 
to pay his fare was placed in his mouth ; the 
widow was brought near and stripped of her 
upper mantle and jewels, which were thrown 
upon the body ; both body and bier were then 
carried to the borders of a little stream, wood 
was piled about it, offerings of grain thrown 
upon it, and the whole consumed. 

The thoughtful reader will not fail to notice 
the universal acknowledgment, even by the 
most degraded tribes, of the necessity of some 
provision for the future world. In the cere- 
monies of some, the idea of sin and sacrifices 
for sin is a prominent one ; in those of others, 
an effort is made to provide for wants which 
they believe to resemble the wants of this life. 
It is most rare to find a nation which does not 
recognise the necessity of some preparation or 
provision for the future world. But how dark 



THE FUTURE. 471 



are their views, and how ineffectual their expe- 
dients, until the light of the gospel comes in to 
tell of the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
sins of the world ! While we long, and, it may 
be, labour that the heathen may receive the 
truth, and so learn the way to a glorious hea- 
ven, let us take heed to ourselves, that we neg- 
lect not to provide for our own immortal souls 
and their eternal interests. Vain and mean- 
ingless though the sacrifices and ceremonies of 
the heathen may be, we, who enjoy a brighter 
light, should from them learn, at least, not to 
live without a preparation to meet our God in 
judgment. Should we do so, even the Todars 
and Badagas of the mountains of Hindustan 
will rise up to testify against us in that day. 
Reader! how is it with thee? 

Pleasing as it would be to the writer to re- 
call and to attempt to describe the varied 
scenery of the Nilaglri, he well knows that 
to the reader it w T ould be far less interesting 
than to himself. Were it not so, he would be 
tempted to revive the memory of views from 
the summit of Doda-betta, (the great mountain,) 
when nothing but a sea of milky vapour rolled 
in fleecy waves over the whole lower world, and 



472 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



to paint the gloriousness of the expanse of hills 
and plains revealed when these vapours melted 
before the morning sun, and, breaking, mounted 
up in contorted masses to the clouds above; or 
of Kartery, three thousand feet lower, with its 
waterfall, and plantations of white-flowering 
coffee. He would essay to lead the reader up 
the declivity of the Mukortee peak, and bid 
him lie down upon the brink, and look into the 
abyss from the summit of the sheer, unbroken, 
perpendicular precipice ; and then, withdraw- 
ing him, roll into the chasm the stone on which 
his elbow had leaned, and let him listen to its 
echoing thunders as it reverberated in its fall 
to the depths below ; or would invite him to 
journey to Sisparah, the summit of the pass to 
the western coast of India, to look out upon 
huge buttresses of granite mountain clothed 
with a forest dense, deep, unbroken, — the abode 
of the wild elephant, the tiger, the buffalo, and 
ten thousand smaller beasts, — and stretching in 
one sheet of living green from the summit of 
the pass to its base, miles distant, and far away 
into the plains of Malabar. But it would be 
in vain ; such scenes must be the reward of 
toilsome journeys and laborious ascents. Great 
and glorious are these works of God; most 






COIMBATOOR. 473 



precious is their memory ; but, to be known in 
their grandeur and beauty, they must be seen. 
We cannot do less than say that such things 
are ; but the reader shall be spared the vain 
attempt to paint them for his admiration. 



The sojourner on the Neilgherries, when 
looking down from some lofty summit upon the 
lowlands basking in the bright sunlight with 
glistening tanks and checkered fields, longs to 
be orice more at home among the objects of his 
anxious labours. Heat and languor are for- 
gotten, and he sighs to be with his brethren 
amid the toils of the missionary-work. Such, 
at least, was our experience ; and, when cir- 
cumstances favoured it, we embraced an oppor- 
tunity of going down for a few clays to the 
plains, to see "India" again, and to meet 
friends from the island of Ceylon, now in Co- 
imbatoor, a town heretofore unvisited by us. 
Prepared with clothing for a new climate, we 
set out, Mrs. D. in a palankeen, I on a little 
shaggy white poney, who bore on his shoulder 



474 conoor. 



the mark of Hindu surgery, a large branded 
wheel, a specific for all internal ailmejits. 

Our road took us through a beautiful dell, 
where we noticed on a single tree some seven 
or eight honeycombs hanging from its boughs 
in semicircular masses, each not less than three 
feet in diameter. The wild bees, though robbed 
of their stores both by the hill-tribes and bears, 
(for Master Bruin is a lover of honey in India 
as well as America,) find a profusion of flowers 
spread for them from which to repair their 
losses. Emerging from Love-dale, as this valley 
has been named by the English residents, we 
ascended a steep hill, and gaining the top of 
the Kaytee Pass, began our descent through 
the Kaytee Valley to Conoor, twelve miles dis- 
tant. The road, sometimes steep, sometimes 
quite level, and sometimes gently sloping, leads 
you through cultivated fields and Badaga vil- 
lages to a point sixteen hundred feet lower than 
Ootacamund. Being thus at a less elevation, 
Conoor has a milder climate, and is chosen as 
a residence by those who prefer a less sudden 
change from the heat of the plains. A dozen 
English houses are scattered over the hills at 
the head of the pass leading to Coimbatoor. 
The spot is one of great beauty, and commands 



conoor. 475 



a noble view. Below you, a mountain-stream 
finds its way through a deep ravine, on the 
other side of which Hoolicul, the Tiger Moun- 
tain, rises toweringly, clothed with wood from 
its base to its summit, and crowned, where 
it hangs over the lowlands, with a deserted 
fortress. 

There is here a bazaar for the natives, where 
they stop to spend the night on their way from 
the villages to the weekly market at Ootaca- 
mund. The narrow road is crowded on these 
days with Hindus and their pack-oxen, bring- 
ing produce from Coimbatoor. The patient 
camel, silently chewing his cud by the road- 
side, waits for the word of command; and 
elephants, in the employ of government, move 
heavily along ; or you may see them lying in 
the stream on their broad sides, while the ma- 
houts, (keepers,) seated upon them, scrape their 
brown hides with pieces of rough stone. This 
the huge creatures seem greatly to enjoy, lying 
with their heads entirely beneath the water, 
from time to time lifting their trunks for a 
breath, and then lazily dropping them again 
into the stream. 

We left Conoor at three in the morning. 
The moon had set, the air was cold and damp, 



476 A MOUNTAIN PASS. 



and the silence of the night was broken only 
by the voice of the dashing stream that leaped 
down the gorge, as if in haste to mingle with 
the placid waters of the Bowany in its course 
through the plains. The musaljee's torch threw 
a fitful glare upon the bearers, enabling them 
to pick their way down the steep mountain- 
pass. Hoolicul stood out against the starry 
sky, black, frowning, and sombre. The steep 
bank on our left, from which our path was cut, 
was shrouded with shrubs and trees, upon whose 
leaves our torch cast a glancing, flashing light, 
that made the gloom beyond seem more im- 
penetrable. It was a place and an hour to call 
up the memory of fearful tales of night attacks 
made by the prowling panther or the more 
ferocious tiger ; but the loud cries with which 
our bearers made the silent leafy arches ring, 
would have been protection enough in less-fre- 
quented ways than this. 

As the day began to break, the scene grew 
more cheerful. The mountain-top, first to 
announce the coming dawn, framed itself into 
distinctness, and the hill-side on our left became 
visible as an overhanging wall of wood, with 
luxuriant creepers climbing the trunks, hanging 
in festoons from branches, and trailing till they 



COXOOR GHAUT. 477 



swept the earth. The hoarse voice of the 
stream, no longer solitary, was mingled with 
the crowing of the jungle-cock, the whistle and 
song of birds in the dark recesses of the ravine, 
and the loud "Moop! moop ! moop !" of the 
wild monkey. 

A little later, and the purple rays of morn- 
ing, first lighting up the forest-clad mountain's 
brow, then sweeping in soft pencils down its 
side, came full upon us ; the sun rose, and a 
flood of light was poured on all nature, chang- 
ing the gloomy forest-path and dark haunts 
of prowling beasts of prey into a scene of life, 
tranquillity, and beauty. Thus, into the tem- 
pest-tost, sinful, anguished soul, oppressed with 
the darkness of unbelief, " The entrance of thy 
word giveth light," Lord ! 

It was a way to be remembered, and each 
step gave fresh enjoyment ; for, ever descend- 
ing, every turn revealed some new and more 
tropical type of vegetation, until the rhododen- 
dron, the holly, the anemone, and the violet 
were exchanged for the lime, the bamboo, the 
mimosa, and the cactus. But stern reality 
broke in upon romance. As the bearers jogged 
and grunted, jolted and shouted on their way, 
thinking less of scenery and sentiment than of 



478 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



their shoulders, " Crack ! crash !" went the 
fore-pole, and down came the palankeen and 
its load upon the stony road. The pole was 
broken short off, and affairs looked rather 
gloomy; but, after a short consultation, and 
some scolding and grumbling, a slim tree was 
cut and divided into three portions. These 
were lashed, one to the palankeen and two to 
that again, so that the palankeen might be car- 
ried " cooly-fashion," and we jogged on again, 
though more slowly than before. 

In vacant spots in the jungle, near the base 
of the mountain, you notice small patches of 
ground with a few plantain-trees and some 
traces of cultivation, and hard by a rude hut or 
two. These are the habitations of the Erulars, 
who are among the least civilized and most de- 
graded of the inhabitants of India. Like the 
Khonds of Central India, known for the cruel 
sacrifice of human victims, whom, to this day, 
they fatten and cut to pieces as an offering to 
their gods, and, like other hill-tribes equally 
debased, they seem to be the ancient inhabit- 
ants of India, perhaps aboriginal tribes, driven 
to the jungles and mountains by the present 
races of Hindus. They are small, ill-formed, 
and go almost naked. Of the family tie they 



A DEGRADED TRIBE. 479 



have little notion, and in morals and intellect 
are exceedingly degraded. By the^IIindus 
they are looked upon as savages. The citizens 
of Madras or Calcutta would feel themselves 
greatly scandalized if they knew that they were 
classed with these degraded tribes, whom they 
view as we do the American Indians or the 
South Sea Islanders ; and they would revolt at 
the idea of the atrocities of the Khonds being 
considered a part or a representation of their 
system and acts. 

The cultivation of the Erulars consists in 
scratching the earth with a stick, and throwing 
in the seed. When the grain is ripe, they take 
up their abode in its neighbourhood, and live 
upon it until it is gone. The grain is parched, 
pounded, baked on a hot stone into coarse 
cakes, and eaten. They lay up nothing ; and 
hence, when this is consumed, they wander 
about the jungles in search of berries and roots. 
Deserted mothers, that they may be free to 
search for something with which to satisfy the 
cravings of nature, will even murder their own 
infants. Poor Erulars ! wretched children of 
the Indian jungle ! Degraded, depraved, bru- 
talized, well do they deserve their name ! Irul 
signifies darkness ; and theirs is the gross dark- 



480 NEILGHERRY HILLS. 



ness of the depths of heathenism ! Oh, when 
shall the Sun of Righteousness arise upon their 
darkness, chasing it as the natural sun chases 
the darkness and gloom from the jungly ravines 
in which they dwell ! 

The sun was high in the heavens when we 
reached the plain, and we had yet some miles 
of travel before us. Accustomed to the cooler 
air of the mountains, the glare seemed almost 
intolerable. The sun's rays poured w r ith an 
intense, unmitigated fierceness, that pierced to 
the brain, making it throb and boil. Beautiful 
and desirable as the plains seemed when viewed 
from the cool mountain-top, a breath of that 
mountain air would have been gladly hailed by 
the travellers toiling slowly over the barren 
sandy waste at the foot of the mountain under 
the blaze of an August sun. Towards noon, we 
reached the poor bungalow at Mettapollium, 
and renewed our acquaintance with the ants, 
mosquitos, and eye-flies — friends from whom w T e 
had been separated while at Ootacamund, where 
they are quite unknown. 

Our journey from Mettapollium to Coimba- 
toor, a distance of twenty-four miles, was made 
by night. The way was solitary ; and as I rode 
on my little poney utterly alone, I could not but 



■COIMBATOOR. 481 



think with wonder and admiration of the per- 
fect safety with which I thus passed, unguarded 
and alone, by night, through a part of India to 
which I was a complete stranger. And so you 
may go through almost any portion of this great 
heathen land. Is there no meaning in this ? Is 
there in fact no call from God to the church to 
enter in and possess the land ? Surely there 
is a most unmistakable call to sow the seeds of 
truth in the fields thus spread before us. Not 
to do so will bring upon us the guilt of disobe- 
dience to the intimations of Providence, as well 
as to the direct command of Christ, " Go ye 
into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature." By thus throwing open the 
door of entrance, God is, as it were, making 
that command specific for India. 

The town of Coimbatoor is the centre of a 
district of the same name, containing about a 
million inhabitants, and is three hundred miles 
distant from Madras. It is a flourishing place 
with sixty thousand inhabitants, and surrounded 
by a fertile plain, yielding large crops of cot- 
ton, rice, and tobacco. This plain spreads 
itself towards the south and east, but on the 
north are the Neilgherries with their belt of 
woodland, and on the west the forests and 



482 WILD ELEPHANTS. 



jungles of the Aney-Maley, or Elephant Moun- 
tains. These forests yield to the government 
large supplies of teak-wood, invaluable for house 
and ship-building, and furnish a hunting-ground 
for adventurous sportsmen. All kinds of game, 
from the buffalo and wild boar, the leopard and 
tiger, up to the greatest of all, the wild ele- 
phant, (who give the mountains their name,) 
here abound. The chase is attended with dan- 
ger, and not un frequently with loss of life. 
While in Coimbatoor, we heard of the escape of 
a civilian high in rank from a situation of 
fearful peril. In company with a party, he 
had succeeded in coming upon a wild elephant. 
They fired, but the elephant, though wounded, 
was not struck in a mortal part. Infuriated 
by his wounds, he charged upon the assailants, 
seized this gentleman w r ith his trunk, dashed 
him to the ground, ran upon him, and kneeling 
down, thrust at him with his tusks, burying 
them deep in the ground ; then rising, he threw 
the body from him. The companions of the 
unfortunate officer had now come up, and seized 
the opportunity to send a rifle-ball into his 
brain. The monster fell dead ; the gentleman 
was found, not run through as was supposed, 
but only stunned. The tusks had passed one 



COIMBATOOR. 483 



on each side of him — one of them, as I was 
told, shaving the hair from the side of his head, 
the other just missing his thigh. 

Coimbatoor affords a fair specimen of the 
towns of Southern India. Its streets are regu- 
lar, many of them narrow and mean, some of 
them broad, and quite well built, with houses 
one story in height, but without windows upon 
the street except here and there a grated 
aperture for the admission of light to a room 
not facing on the central court. Each house 
has in front a small verandah, or piol, of ma- 
sonry or clay, where the occupants, at least the 
males, spend much of their time ; in the front 
wall are small triangular niches for lamps. 
Within the solid wooden door is a small vesti- 
bule, leading, in the better class of houses, to 
the square court in the centre, in which the 
household duties are carried on by the women. 
The rooms face upon this court. The furniture 
of the houses of the poor, and indeed of all who 
are not rich, is most simple. A mat, rolled up 
by day and spread upon the hard earth-floor 
at night, serves for a bed, and the cloth worn 
by day is all the covering needed at night. A 
teak-wood box, with polished brass clasps, holds 
the valuables of the family; and a bench or 



484 nixDU house. 



two, with the cooking and eating utensils of 
clay or brass, complete the furniture of an or- 
dinary house. 

They do not need book-cases, for they have 
no books ; nor do they want bureaus and ward- 
robes, for they seldom have more than a change 
or two of garments, and the poor, nothing be- 
yond the piece of cotton-cloth they wear by 
day, and under which they sleep at night. They 
do not want chairs and bedsteads, as a mat on 
the floor answers for both ; and they need no 
drawers for spoons, knives and forks, as fingers 
are found more handy and cheap, and are more 
easily kept clean. Tooth-brushes grow on every 
tree, for they abominate the thought of putting 
a second time into the mouth what has been 
once defiled by spittle, and break a fresh twig 
every day with which to rub the teeth. For 
the same reason, they will not put a cup to their 
lips or a spoon to their mouth, as they would 
be defiled by contact with saliva, and could not 
be used again in food. 

In truth, so mild is the climate, and so few 
are the wants of the people, that their houses 
are not properly abodes or dwelling-places. 
They serve for a shelter during the rains, for 
a place of privacy for the women, for kitchen 



HINDU HOUSE. 485 



and storehouse ; but much of the time of the 
Hindus is spent abroad, and quite as many 
sleep without as within doors. In the hot 
weather their houses jire close, and in the wet 
weather they are damp. They bathe in the 
tank, or river, if one be near, and perform 
other toilet duties at the same place. They 
smoke under a tree, and are shaved at the cor- 
ner of the street, seated on the ground. Trades 
are carried on in the open air, and goods ex- 
posed for sale without the house. Company is 
received on the. piol; and schools are taught 
there, or under the shade of a tree. Hence, as 
we have said, the house cannot be considered 
as the family abode. When, through the 
ameliorating influence of Christianity, the family 
circle becomes a happy and attractive place, 
changes in their mode of life will lead to a 
change in the structure of their houses. In- 
creased comfort and improved health will 
accompany an increase of love and mutual 
affection. Then the house of the Hindu will 
be what it is not now — his home. 

The houses of the more wealthy are some- 
times two stories in height, with a flat roof 
surrounded by a wall, where the owners enjoy 
the evening air and look out upon the passers- 



486 THE BAZAAR. 



by. But even such houses are close, ill-venti- 
lated, and unfit for habitation in a tropical 
climate. 

In the bazaars, or trading streets, the front 
verandah is enlarged by a stiff mat of split 
bamboo, which is supported by posts, and ex- 
tending into the street, affords a shelter for the 
tradesman and his goods as well as for the pur- 
chaser. Here all the varied articles of Indian 
traffic and consumption are exposed for sale, 
and a constant hubbub is kept up by the dis- 
putes of the buyers and sellers. Generally, the 
Hindu knows to a hairs' breadth the value of 
every article, and he will spend an hour in 
debate rather than lose a pice.* The foreigner 
is sure of being cheated, if he does not know 
the price he ought to give a native tradesman, 
as his rule is to get all he can, without any 
reference to the value of his goods. 

A variety is given to the scene by the groups 
of men, in their white robes and red or white 
turbans, moving hither and thither, by half- 
naked coolies, cavady-men with their boxes 
slung on a bamboo over their shoulders, bandies 
from the country, and the occasional passage 

* Pice, small copper coin, worth one-fourth of a cent. 



IRRIGATION. 487 • 



of a palankeen with its noisy set of bearers; 
while the European soldier, with his wife upon 
his arm, serves to remind you of the supremacy 
of English rule over these populous and wide- 
spread provinces. 

Coimbatoor owes much of its wealth to a 
large and lake-like tank, formed by collecting 
the waters of a small river. The water is re- 
tained by a dam until wanted for the rice-fields 
in the dry season. It is then distributed, by 
means of a graduated sluice, through small 
canals to the various fields, each owner paying 
so much per inch for the water. Thus a small 
stream is made to spread fruitfulness and plenty 
over a large district of country, increasing im- 
mensely both the wealth and comfort of the 
people and the resources of the government. 
In this and in a thousand other ways the pros- 
perity of India may be increased, and will be 
increased by the prevalence of true religion, 
infusing life, energy, industry, and mutual con- 
fidence into the popular mind. In the clay when 
her idols have been cast to the moles and the 
bats, her wealth will be doubled, and her popu- 
lation, if doubled, will be more rich and pros- 
perous than now. When this blessed change 
shall have made, all over the earth, the desert 



COIMBATOOR. 



to bud and blossom as the rose in things phy- 
sical and temporal as well as in things spiritual 
and eternal, our Lord shall see of the travail of 
his soul and be satisfied. 

As yet Coimbatoor is bound in the chains of 
idolatry. We were annoyed during our stay 
there by the almost incessant celebration of 
heathen festivals. By day and by night, the 
noise of tomtoms and horns, and the reports of 
fire-arms, filled the town with their discordant 
music. Processions were frequent, and accom- 
panied by the usual routine of Hindu shows — 
music, torches, gods, and men. Hearing, one 
day, the clatter of brass cymbals, we looked out 
and saw a crowd following a man who presented 
a most woful spectacle, and whose sufferings 
were being chaunted by an attendant musician. 
His body was naked, except a strip of cloth 
wrapped about his middle, and his face and 
person were smeared with ashes and yellow 
paint, giving him a most hideous and revolting 
look ; he walked, writhing and stooping, ap- 
parently in intense anguish, and with a sword 
(so far as we could see) thrust through his body 
just below the ribs, the handle projecting on 
the right and the tip on the left side, while the 
clotted gore adhered to his skin. It must, of 



PRETENDED MIRACLES. 489 



course, have been a trick, the sword being 
divided and passing around his body under his 
cloth ; but the deception was complete to the 
eye, and doubtless, the gaping crowd believed 
that the transfixed person was miraculously 
preserved from death by his god. It is by such 
deceptions that the reputation of their deities 
is sustained. Another common miracle is that 
of having the tongue restored by the power of 
the god, after being cut off. A man will give 
out that in fulfilment of a vow he has cut out 
his tongue. His mouth is bandaged, and a 
tongue (supposed to be his, but really a sheep's) 
is exposed by his side. The credulous multi- 
tude look on with admiration ; and when, some 
days after, the bandages are removed, and his 
tongue is found in his mouth again, they are 
loud in their praises of the might of their won- 
der-working god. 

Coimbatoor is not, however, entirely without 
the light of the gospel. A diligent and perse- 
vering missionary of the London Missionary 
Society has been stationed here for a number 
of years, and has proclaimed the truth exten- 
sively in the town and province. His parish 
consists of about a million souls ! Were he 
multiplied into ten men, each might have a 



490 COIMBATOOR. 



hundred thousand committed to his charge. 
But, though thus alone in this mass of heathen- 
ism, his labours have not been in vain. A 
church of forty or fifty members has been ga- 
thered, while a number have died, looking by 
faith to a heavenly home ; twelve schools have 
been established in Coimbatoor and other towns 
of his district. In addition to a son who is as- 
sociated with him in his missionary work, he 
has twelve native assistants, who labour in con- 
nection with his out-stations, and come from 
time to time to head-quarters to make reports 
and receive instructions. A large amount of 
information on the great truths of Christianity 
is thus diffused among the people, and the way 
prepared for the conversion of multitudes when 
the Spirit of God shall be poured out from on 
high. 

A neat church has been erected on the mis- 
sion premises, where we attended on the ser- 
vices of the Sabbath with much pleasure. It 
was the conmnmion-da}", and the assistants from 
the out-stations were all present, with a large 
congregation of Christians and their families. 
They seemed to have been trained to habits of 
military regularity and order. At the close 
of the prayer, they fired off their volley of 



COMMUNION-DAY. 491 



"amens" with the precision of a discharge of 
musketry. The singing, if not very melodious, 
was hearty and powerful, and the attention 
perfect. When Mr. A. announced a quotation, 
the words, "First Corinthians, sixth, first," or 
whatever it might he, would hardly he out of 
his mouth before the place was found and the 
verse read by some one of the auditors. So 
marvellous was their quickness, that I supposed 
they had the quotations furnished them before- 
hand ; but such was not the case. All, both 
men, women, and children, took notes with their 
iron styles upon their ollas (strips of palm-leaf) 
with a noise resembling the nibbling of fifty 
mice. They are afterwards caiechized upon 
the instructions of the day — the men by the 
missionary, and the women by his wife, who is 
truly a help-meet to him, both in his house and 
in his work. Her instructions have been the 
means of gathering a most interesting school of 
girls, several of whom have become Christian 
wives and mothers, forming, as we trust, the 
nucleus of a Christian community. Female 
efforts and usefulness should not be unrecorded 
and unknown now, as they were not in the days 
of the apostle Paul. There are at the present 
day many women in India whose labours would 



492 



COIMBATOOR. 



call forth an apostle's commendation. Their 
names are not noised abroad ; they desire not 
that they should be ; but, while cheering, com- 
forting, and aiding their husbands in their ardu- 
ous labours, they are, in a sphere more humble 
but most necessary and important, contri- 
buting to the spread of the truth and the 
regeneration of India by their efforts in the 
department of female education; they are 
training the wives and mothers of a coining 
church. 




HINDU HOUSE. 



PAET VI. 



It needs but a few days at sea to make the 
sight of land most grateful and exhilarating ; 
and doubly exciting is it when such associations 
cluster around the region you approach as those 
which are connected with Calcutta, the empo- 
rium of the East, and the holy river of India, 
the far-famed Ganges. The Hooghly, which is 
one of the many streams by which the Ganges 
empties its waters into the Bay of Bengal, is 
esteemed the most sacred of its mouths. The 
river is itself a god, and when Gunga (the 
Ganges) meets the sea at the island of Gunga- 
Sagor, (more commonly written Saugur Island,) 
the spot becomes most holy. Hither tens of 
thousands of Hindus resort at the annual festi- 
val of Gunga-Sagor, the union of river and sea, 
in the month of January; they descend the 
river in boats which line the shore in a dense 
fleet, and, landing, engage in the performance 

42 493 



494 



SANDHEADS. 



of their idolatrous worship to the river-god. 
Offerings are laid upon the shore, and when 
swept away by the rising tide, are held to be 
accepted by the deity. Mothers, in former 
times, here threw their own babes into the 
flood, and looked on, unmoved, while sharks and 
alligators tore their tender limbs asunder. 
Adults, too, cast themselves into the stream, 
giving their own lives as a free-will offering to 
the god. These bloody practices have now been 
arrested by the' British government. During 
the festival, soldiers are on guard to stop such 
deeds of cruelty and of idolatrous madness. 
Yet it cannot be doubted that, in private, many 
a life is sacrificed at this shrine of superstition. 
Before reaching Sagor, and while yet out of 
sight of land, you are boarded by a pilot from 
a pilot-brig which is on the look-out for vessels 
arriving at the " Sanclheads," and then are 
guided by an unseen channel, through unseen 
shoals, towards an unseen coast. These sandy 
shoals, to which the river each year adds the 
soil brought down from above, are full of dan- 
ger. An efficient pilot service, however, re- 
moves the anxieties of the voyager. Under the 
direction of one of them, your ship advances to 
Sagor, and, if night is approaching, there 



THE SONDERBUNDS. 495 



anchors till daylight, for the intricacies of the 
channel forbid an ascent by night. The island 
lies just above the level of the sea, and has a 
dreary aspect. After passing its shores, the 
coast upon your right hand continues of the 
same low character, and wears the aspect of a 
complete wilderness. This jungly tract of land, 
intersected by crossing creeks and streams, is 
known as the Sonderbunds. It is the home of 
savage beasts of prey, and the abode of every 
noxious reptile. Once, and that not at a dis- 
tant period, it was cultivated by a rural popula- 
tion, but war spread its ravages over the land; 
and it is now given up to the prowling tiger, 
the serpent, the crocodile, and their fellows, 
while fever broods upon the atmosphere, and 
adds to the terrors of the place. 

The river now begins to assume its proper 
dimensions, allowing you to see both of its 
banks; but it is still some miles wide, and rolls 
on to the sea, its turbid yellow current loaded 
with alluvial matter from the uplands, with won- 
derful volume and swiftness. We are told that 
were two thousand ships, each bearing fifteen 
hundred tons of soil, to sail down every day in 
the year, they would not carry as much solid 
matter as is borne to the ocean in a single day 



496 FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 



by the Ganges. As you advance, the stream 
still narrows, the banks cease to be jungly 
wastes, and little villages of thatched cottages, 
embowered amid palms, tamarinds, and other 
tropical trees, give life and beauty to the scene. 
The exquisite greenness of the rice-fields, the 
luxuriance of the foliage, and the gracefulness 
of vegetable life, so characteristic of the lands 
of the sun, give an indescribable charm to In- 
dian scenery; though those rude huts and 
verdant fields are the dwelling-places of sin and 
heathenism, their beauty, as seen across the 
bosom of the river, is most captivating. Truly, 
here 

"Every prospect pleases, 
And only man is vile." 

The river itself abounds with objects of inte- 
rest : the ships of many nations — Asiatic, Eu- 
ropean, African, and American — are going 
towards the emporium of the East, the metro- 
polis of British India. Boats from the shore, 
with their noisy and almost naked boatmen, 
bring fruit, fish, hats, and other articles of trade 
alongside, and the crews hail your vessel to 
seek admission to the deck. 

It is not only to the voyager fresh from home 
that the ascent of the Ganges is novel and inte- 



GARDEN REACH. 497 



resting. These things are as new to the resident 
of Madias as are the scenes of Italy to the 
Englishman. The people of Bengal differ from 
those of Southern India in language, dress, and 
looks, as well as in other respects. In frame, 
they are more slightly built, and less manly; in- 
deed, they have the reputation of being the most 
effeminate of the Hindu races. 

About a hundred miles above the island of 
Sagor, a bend in the river, now but a mile wide, 
opens to your view Garden Reach, a suburb of 
the great city. As you glide gently up with a 
favouring breeze and silent but powerful tide, 
you pass house after house, elegantly built, 
plastered with chunam, and surrounded by a 
beautiful shady compound, with a green lawn 
running to the water's edge. These are the 
country residences of the English gentry. You 
recall (if a reader of Sunday-school books) the 
story of Ermina, and almost wonder through 
which of these gardens the thoughtless Minny 
and her gentle Anna walked to thejrome of the 
rich merchant. But the scene has become too 
exciting for meditation; you are passing the 
fort and city. Steamers, ships, awkward craft 
from the Laccadives or Maldives, China, and 
Malacca, boats of various kinds and shapes, are 



498 THE BLACK-HOLE. 



steaming, sailing, and pulling hither and thither, 
while the Bengalee boatmen keep up an un- 
broken jabber on every hand. The vessels in 
port are moored in tiers three deep, broadside 
to the shore, which slopes down, without wharves 
or docks, to the water's edge. Their cargoes 
are unloaded by lighters which lie alongside, 
and the officers, agents, and sailors, with a host 
of Hindu tradesmen, are continually passing 
and repassing in small boats called dingeys. 

We had to anchor in the stream, for there 
was no berth vacant for our vessel near the 
ghats, as the landing-places are called. We 
had no difficulty, however, in procuring boats 
in which to reach the shore. The boatmen 
rowed in through bathers who were at once 
washing away the stains of the body and of the 
soul with the yellow but most sacred water of 
the river, and set us on shore near the spot on 
which stood the famous " Black-hole of Cal- 
cutta," where in one night a hundred and 
twenty Englishmen died, stifled, suffocated, and 
trampled to death, locked in a little cell, be- 
cause the guards dared not disturb the sleep of 
an oriental despot to tell him that his prisoners 
would in a few hours be dead men. Now, how 
changed are all things in India ! The descend- 




Government House, Calcutta, p. 499. 



CALCUTTA. 499 



ants of the Grand Mogul, then master of scores 
of such petty despots as the nabob Suraj-ud- 
Dowbut, to whose greatness these English lives 
were sacrificed, are glad to eat bread from the 
coffers of the English treasury. 

The city of Calcutta stretches along the 
eastern bank of the Hooghly, or Bagirathy, as 
it is called by the natives, for a distance of six 
miles above the fort. Its population is not ac- 
' curately known, but probably is not less than 
eight hundred thousand. It owes its greatness 
entirely to the supremacy and commerce of Great 
Britain. When granted as a trading-place to 
the English, in the year 1717, it was a petty 
village of mud-huts ; and in 1756, it was taken 
from the English, who were driven from Bengal 
by its nabob. Now it is known as the " City 
of Palaces," and with reason; for few cities 
certainly in the East exceed it in extent and 
in the magnificence of its dwellings. 

Fort William is deemed almost impregnable, 
and has quarters for a large number of troops. 
It faces the river, and, like Fort St. George at 
Madras, is surrounded by a wide, level, open 
esplanade. Just beyond the esplanade stands 
the government-house, a large and noble build- 
ing erected by the Marquis Wellesly as a 



500 ADJUTANTS. 



suitable residence for the governor-general of 
all India. It is surrounded by a handsome 
square, with a tank and beautiful shrubbery. 
The newly-arrived stranger is much amused by 
the strange forms of the multitude of adjutants, 
not of the military but of the bird-kind, that 
arc perched here and there all over the build- 
ings. These peculiar birds, with their long 
legs, long necks, and great pouches pendant 
from their throats, stand on the balustrades " 
and porticos, ready to remove from the streets 
carrion of every kind. Dead rats, bones, and 
even whole cats, are received as tit-bits into 
their capacious maws. It gives rather a ludi- 
crous air to the grave marble lions, emblematic 
of the supremacy of England, to see these great, 
gawky birds perched upon their heads and 
backs. 

The English residences lie on the further 
side of the esplanade and public square, and 
are of a lordly character. Large, two-storied, 
w T ith pillared fronts, and close-shutting Venetian 
verandahs, and occupying each a separate en- 
closure surrounded by a high substantial wall, 
they have an air of grandeur and wealth. The 
compounds are smaller than in Madras, giving 
more the appearance of a city, and the houses 



STRANGE CONTRASTS. 501 



are more lofty and compact. Nor are these 
external marks of luxury deceptive. The style 
of living is suited to the dwelling, combining 
the luxuries and elegancies of the East with the 
imported comforts of the West, to a degree pro- 
bably nowhere surpassed. 

Close by these palaces of the ruling race, and 
even against their compound-walls, you will 
find a row of the huts of the ruled, presenting 
in their meanness a striking contrast to the 
splendour with which they are brought into such 
close contact. Yet the poor Hindu, with but a 
bit of cloth about his middle, and an earthen 
dish of rice and curry for his frugal meal, is as 
contented, and perhaps far more comfortable 
than the officer who dines within the palace, 
fanned by punkahs, waited on by a train of 
obsequious servants, and stimulated to excess 
by wines, liquors, and tempting dishes. The 
one is living an artificial life in a strange and 
hostile climate ; the other is at home, and dips 
his hand into the dish that his wife sets before 
him with an appetite and a relish to which his 
more wealthy neighbour may be a stranger. 

The churches are numerous, and some of 
them have claims to architectural greatness; 
but to the missionary no place of worship is so 



502 PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 



interesting as the old church in which Henry 
Martyn* preached, and where David Brown 
and Thomas T. Thoruason held the pastoral 
office. The building is large, and stuccoed 
within with chunam of dazzling whiteness. A 
multitude of lamps in Indian shades illuminate 
it at night, and punkahs swing in every direc- 
tion over the heads of preacher and audience, 
like the waving of branches in a forest. Against 
the wall, tablets are fixed to perpetuate the me- 
mory of the excellent and devoted men who 
here laboured, Corrie, Brow T n, and Thomason, 
and one to the memory of Martyn, who died 
far away in Tocat, with the simple inscription, 
" He was a burning and a shining light." The 
Cathedral, the Kirk, the Free Church, the 
Baptist and Independent chapels, are places 
of interest, and some of them are fine struc- 
tures. Many of the public and charitable build- 
ings also are on a most noble scale. 

If the dweller in Calcutta have in mind the 
fact that but a hundred years since the English 
were driven by a Bengal nabob from the place, 
and that all that he sees is the creation of a 
single century, by a little band of men in a 

* See memoirs of Henry Martyn, Thomas T. Thomason, 
and Catharine Brown, by the American Sunday-school Union. 



GREAT CHANGES. 503 



hostile climate and a hostile land, twelve thou- 
sand miles away from home, he will not fail to 
look with wonder upon the unconquerable 
energy and enterprise that has wrought this 
magical change. Even now, at night, the cries 
of packs of jackals come swelling and fading, 
and swelling again in wild, sad cadences upon 
the ear at the dead of night, reminding you 
that Calcutta is but a strip of human habita- 
tions redeemed from the waste lands that lie 
just behind its stately palaces. 

In addition to the missionaries of the Eng- 
lish and Scotch societies, there is a large circle 
of pious persons among the English residents 
at Calcutta. In nothing is change more ap- 
parent than in the moral and religious tone of 
society in India. Forty years since, as is well 
known, Protestant missionaries, even English- 
men, were compelled to seek refuge under the 
Danish flag at Serampore. The devoted (and 
now famous) Ward, Carey, and Marshman were 
not permitted to reside within the territories of 
the East India Company. Our own Judsons 
and Newells were driven from India by their 
authority. Now, not only is the government 
willing that the preacher of the gospel should 
make his home among the Hindus, but he finds 



504 ENGLISH RESIDENTS. 



favour in the eyes of the rich, the great, and 
the powerful. Immoralities once openly prac- 
tised must now he renounced or hid from the 
public eye. Formerly, Englishmen high in 
station made offerings at heathen shrines, built 
temples, joined in idolatrous processions, and 
even worshipped idols. Such things now would 
not be tolerated by the public sentiment of the 
English in India. The remaining links by 
which the government is united with idolatry 
will, it is expected, soon be severed, and hea- 
thenism be left to take care of itself. In 
no country will you meet men of more ardent 
zeal for the glory of God, of more devoted 
piety, or of more deep spirituality, than are 
some of the gentlemen of the East India Com- 
pany's service. Were it proper, the names of 
man}r, high in rank, both in the civil and mili- 
tary branches, might be adduced as examples 
of what a Christian gentleman should be, and 
may do. To have the counsel, aid, prayers, 
and sympathies of such men when in a heathen 
land, is a great and delightful privilege. In the 
presidency of Madras, especially, is the religious 
element in society strong, decided, and advan- 
tageous to the cause of Christ. 

The native part of the city lies to the norti 



THE BAZAARS. 505 

of the English quarter, and consists of a dense 
network of narrow and dirty lanes, lined with 
houses of a small and mean appearance. Some 
of them have Avails of brick or of mud, -but 
■whole streets will consist of houses made with 
walls of bamboo-mat and roofs of palm-leaf 
thatch. When a fire breaks out in these streets, 
it sweeps every thing before it, and would entail 
boundless misery were it not for the mildness 
of the climate. 

Some of the .native residences are extensive 
and showy; for there are many rich "tabus" 
or native gentlemen, in Calcutta, and these are 
surrounded by large compounds with tanks, 
palm-trees, and the appliances of Eastern 
luxury ; but the mass of the people live in 
houses much meaner than those of the native 
city in Madras. The bazaars are scenes of much 
interest and novelty to the stranger ; the burra 
(great) bazaar, especially, is a complete hive of 
shops, swarming with tradesmen and purchasers, 
who fill and choke up every avenue through the 
rows of cell-like stores. The concentration at 
this port of the commerce of all the East, from 
Arabia to Singapore and China, brings together 
a wonderful assemblage of national dress, lan- 
guage, and looks. It is one of the great centres 

43 



50G THE GANGES. 



of the world, and a. place for the study of men, 
not of the Bengali race alone, but of a multi- 
tude of kindreds and tongues. All, however, 
seem intent upon answering one question, 
"What shall we cat, what shall we drink, and 
wherewithal shall we be clothed?" For con- 
centrated worldliness, a Calcutta bazaar is un- 
rivalled. The great worship of the people 

IS THE WORSHIP OF MAMMON. 

Calcutta has fewer temples of note than 
many cities of far less importance. It has no 
shrines invested with a sanctity made venerable 
and great by the traditions of ages ; and those 
temples which have been erected are, for the 
most part, small and mean. Yet it is a city 
wholly given to idolatry. The forms of idola- 
trous worship most common here are those 
paid to the river Ganges and to the goddesses 
Durga and Kali. The Ganges, which is itself 
the goddess Gunga, may be regarded as one 
continuous temple for heathenish devotions, 
stretching in an unbroken line from the snow- 
capped Himalaya, fifteen hundred miles, to the 
jungly shores of Gunga-Sagor. At every point 
of its course it is supposed to possess the power 
of removing sins and conferring heavenly bliss. 
The Purannas (holy books) declare that the 



SACREDNES3 OF THE GANGES. 507 



sight, the name, or the touch of Grunga takes 
away all sin, no matter how aggravated. Even 
to think of this holy river, when far away from 
it, is sufficient to remove the taint of sin ; while 
to bathe in it conveys blessings which no tongue 
can tell. 

With a stream of such wonderful powers 
rolling its current at their very doors, it will 
be believed that Gunga's banks are scenes of 
daily rites and of idolatrous worship. Many 
visit it morning and evening merely to look at 
the river, and so remove the sins of the day or 
night just passed. Others walk into the yellow 
stream, bathe, and then, regaining the shore, 
mould the mud upon its banks into the form 
of a Linga, the symbol of Siva, and offer to it 
their morning prayers. Presenting to it flowers, 
betel, and fruits, again they invoke the god 
which their own hands have formed. When 
they have ended, they throw the image away, 
and return to their homes or business. Surely, 
as the Psalmist says of the worshippers of idols, 
" They that make them are like unto them." 

In sickness, the body is smeared with Ganges 
mud as a means of restoration, and, above all, 
when death seems inevitable, Gunga's shore 
is the place on which to die. To die immersed 



508 sacredness of the ganges. 



in its waters, and while swallowing its sacred 
mud, is the very height of blessedness. One of 
the Purannas asserts that should a grasshopper, 
or a worm, or even a tree growing by its side, 
die in its waters, it would attain to final bliss. 
Nay, more ; to illustrate the virtues of Gunga, 
it is related that a Brahmin who had been 
guilty of the greatest crimes, and had been 
devoured by wild beasts, sprang to life and 
ascended to heaven, because a crow dropped 
one of his bones into its stream. Hence, multi- 
tudes of the dying are brought to the banks of 
the river, and, regardless of their weakness and 
wretchedness, exposed to the glaring sun, and 
choked with the water and mud, until death 
delivers them from the persecutions of their 
benighted friends. Even to the commission of 
suicide in this stream the highest merit is 
attached. 

Hither the bodies of the dead are brought 
for burning. -A funeral pile is built upon the 
shore, and the body having been laid on it, it 
is kindled by the oldest son or nearest heir. 
When too poor to buy fuel for this purpose, the 
body is thrown into the river. Human corpses 
come floating down the stream entirely unno- 
ticed by the throngs of boats busily going hither 



FESTIVAL OF DU11GA. 509 



and thither on the bosom of the river. To 
abate this, which, to English minds, appears a. 
nuisance, boats are stationed for the purpose 
of sinking the floating bodies as they pass. 

The Durga-pujah, or festival in honour of 
the goddess Durga, one of the forms in which 
the wife of Siva has manifested herself, occurs 
in the autumn. It is one of the greatest of the 
many great festivals in the Hindu year, and in 
Bengal is their chief holiday. So universal is 
the cessation from business, that even the go- 
vernment offices are closed for a week. The 
story of the cause and results of this incar- 
nation of the terrible goddess, is described in 
the Shasters, and translated by Ward. The 
sum of it is, that a certain giant having by 
religious austerities obtained a boundless store 
of merit, conquered the three worlds, dethroned 
all the gods save the supreme triad, Brahma, 
Vishnu, Siva, and their consorts, drove them 
from heaven, and made them fall down and 
worship him. The wretched immortals found 
favour in the eyes of the goddess Durga, and 
she went forth to slay their oppressor, who met 
her with an army of thirty thousand giants of 
enormous size, ten millions of horses,' a hundred 
millions of chariots, and one hundred and twenty 

43* 



510 fEfcSTIVAL 03? DURGA. 



thousand millions of elephants ! The combat 
was a fearful one, but ended in the death of the 
giant and the deliverance of the gods, who, by 
way of showing their grateful remembrance, 
transferred to the goddess the name of the 
slain monster, Durga. 

Durga, as worshipped, is represented as a 
female with ten arms and hands, in which she 
grasps various warlike weapons.* She is in the 
act of thrusting a spear into the breast of a 
giant, while a serpent, held in one of her hands, 
is striking its fangs into the prostrate wretch, 
who is also being torn by a lion at the goddess' 
feet. On her right hand stand two of her chil- 
dren, the god Ganesha and the goddess Lachmy ; 
on her left, another son and daughter. Behind 
her is a canopy dotted with stars to represent 
the minor gods. These images are newly made 
each year for this occasion, and are of various 
sizes to suit the differing means of purchasers. 
The ordinary size is that of life. They are not 
made for temples, but for family use ; and each 
family expects to have its Durga installed in 
the house to receive the worship of the house- 
hold and their friends. 

Although the festival extends through many 
days, there are three great days of the feast; 



FESTIVAL OF DURGA. 511 



and on the first of these is performed the ser- 
vice of bringing the goddess into the image. 
The figure, as it comes from the hands of the 
image-maker, is only looked upon as a repre- 
sentation of her form, but on this day it is to be 
animated by her actual presence, and thus be- 
come an object of worship. This is the doctrine 
of the intelligent; but the ignorant look upon 
the image as truly transformed into Durga 
herself, very much as the Roman Catholic be- 
lieves the wafer to be transubstantiated into 
the very body and blood of Christ. This intro- 
duction of the deity is effected by certain 
prayers and ceremonies on the part of the offici- 
; .priest, who touches with his fingers the 
breast, the cheeks, the eyes, and the forehead 
of the image, each time saying, "Let the spirit 
of Durga long continue in happiness in this 
image." He touches the eyes with soot, and 
having thus invoked the goddess, she is believed 
to look forth through these eyes, to smell with 
the nostrils, and to hear with the ears. The 
goddess is as it were infused into the image, so 
as to make it her body. 

Flowers and fruits, incense and music are 
offered by her delighted votaries, and these 
offerings, as they believe, are received by her 



512 FESTIVAL OF DURGA. 



with joy and approbation. The wealthy mer- 
chants of Calcutta on these occasions indulge 
in an expenditure that is astonishing, making 
most costly entertainments, not only for their 
own countrymen, but also for Europeans, with 
tables set out loaded with viands and wines, 
and giving away vast numbers of presents. It 
is calculated that more than two millions of 
dollars are expended every year, in Calcutta 
alone, on this single festival. How do the gifts 
of Christian cities for the spread of the gospel 
sink into insignificance before this sum, ex- 
pended in honour- of a false god, and to foster 
self-love, in the idolatrous metropolis of India ! 
The house of the babu to which I went to 
see the worship of Durga was built in the ordi- 
nary shape of a hollow square. On the right 
and left of the quadrangle are galleries and 
apartments, two stories in height. The central 
court was roofed by a canvas covering, from 
which hung numerous chandeliers, which threw 
a glittering light on the tinsel and ornaments 
with which the house was hung. At the oppo- 
site extremity of the court, in an apartment 
elevated and fronting on the court, stood the 
image before which the pujah was performed. 
The group of gods and goddesses, as large 



FESTIVAL OF DURGA. 513 



as life, with the prostrate giant and the 
lion, was mounted on a platform and glittered 
with tinsel and mock jewellery, which had all 
the show of real and costly splendour. The 
babu made the crowd of spectators give way 
for us, that we might see the image of the great 
Durga. She was almost hidden in a cloud of 
incense ascending from the censer of a servitor, 
while the family priest waved before it burning 
lamps, bowed, and worshipped, tinkled his bell, 
and made to it various offerings to the sound 
of discordant music. 

This, however, is the least abominable part 
of the worship of this deity. On ensuing days, 
vast numbers of bloody sacrifices, sheep, goats, 
and buffaloes, are offered before her, and the 
multitudes, worked up to a phrensy of excite- 
ment, indulge in the most indecent acts and the 
most frantic revellings. 

And, when these days of revelling and license 
are past, how do these idolaters dispose of their 
god ? The goddess having been dismissed from 
the image, it is carried to the river-side and 
cast into the stream ! The whole group, mounted 
on a platform, is borne on the shoulders of men, 
with attendants to brush away the flies, to fan 
it, and make music for it, to the banks of the 



514 FESTIVAL OF DURGA. 



Ganges. From the various streets of the 
teeming city processions stream down to the 
holy river, each with its image, while multitudes 
of spectators flock to the shore. The images 
are borne to the brink and placed between two 
boats, which are united for the purpose, and 
then rowed to the middle of the stream. The 
attendants now fall 'upon the representative of 
their god, strip it of its ornaments, clash it to 
pieces, (it is made of painted earthenware,) and 
cast it into the water. 

Thus ends the Durga-pujah, and thus are 
millions of our fellow-men now living and wor- 
shipping. Thus have they lived for ages past, 
and thus will they live for ages yet to come, 
unless the church of Christ, in dependence upon 
the power of God, says that darkness shall no 
longer brood over the face of fair and fertile 
India. 

We give one more glance at idolatry as seen 
in Calcutta, and then turn to brighter subjects. 

The other popular object of idolatry, in Ben- 
gal to which we referred is the goddess Kali, 
another form of the dread being, who, when 
manifested as Durga, performed such prodigies 
of strength and courage. If, as Durga, she 
was a terrible being, as Kali, she is a thousand 



WORSHIP Ox KALI. 515 



times more ferocious, bloodthirsty, and fearful. 
It is said of her that the blood of fishes will 
please her for a month ; the blood of an ante- 
lope or bear will please twelve years ; the 
blood of a tiger, a hundred years ; the blood 
of a man, a thousand years ; and the blood of 
three men, a hundred thousand years. In the 
Kali-puranna minute directions are given for 
the sacrifice of human victims to this monster. 
She is said on one occasion to have cut her own 
throat, that the blood issuing thence might spout 
into her mouth to quench her appetite for blood. 
Such is the being whom the Hindus of Ben- 
gal delight to honour. Her most famous temple 
is at Kali-ghat, a village on the south side of 
Calcutta. It stands near a stream, once the 
main body of the river Ganges, but now only 
an inconsiderable channel. It is, however, 
still regarded as the most holy and genuine 
Gunga ; and here, under the bending cocoanut- 
trees, the people wash away their sins, (as they 
suppose :) here they bring the sick to die, and 
hither they bear the dead to be burned. The 
village is mainly composed of shops in which 
are sold rice, flowers, ghee, cocoanuts, and 
other articles used as offerings to the goddess, 
and also earthen images and painted pictures 



516 WORSHIP OF KALI. 



of the more popular deities. Passing through 
the villages, you reach a gate where are Brah- 
mins ready to receive offerings and lingas of 
stone for worship. Entering by the gate into 
a court, you see a portico of stone, with a roof 
supported by pillars, and beyond it the famous 
temple of Kali. Its fame is not owing to its 
greatness or beauty, for it is both small and 
mean, but to the reputation of the idol it con- 
tains. Tins was shown to us without any hesi- 
tation by the attendant priests, and certainly a 
more hideous and disgusting object can hardly 
be conceived than that which the refined and 
polite Bengalis have chosen as their favourite 
deity. It stands within a small, dark, window- 
less room, but could be seen by the light of 
the lamps which were lit for the coming ser- 
vices. Larger than human stature, it is painted 
of a jet black. .The form is that of a woman 
with four arms, one of which grasps a sword, 
and another a human head, held by the hair. 
Her hands and the head arc of gold, and so is the 
necklace of skulls which surrounds her neck. 
Her girdle is of han.ds cut from her foes, her 
eyes are red, and her mouth streams with blood. 
She is represented with her tongue thrust out, 
and standing upon the body of her husband. 



WORSHIP OF KALI. 51T 



This is explained by the fact that once, when 
intoxicated with victory, she danced so furiously 
as to shake earth and heaven, threatening to 
involve all things in one common ruin. The 
gods besought Siva to arrest his wife in her 
mad career of joy, and this he effected by cast- 
ing himself under her feet. Perceiving this, she 
was so shocked, that she thrust out her tongue 
to a great length, and remained motionless. 5 " 

At one side of the temple forked stakes are 
fixed in the earth, through which the heads of 
goats or buffaloes are passed to be severed by 
the axe of the sacrificer, and below is a mound 
of Ganges mud, to catch the blood of the vic- 
tims. • The soil is ever wet with gore from the 
daily sacrifices ; and at certain seasons the 
whole place runs with the blood of the multi- 
tudes of victims offered at the shrine of this 
demon. No Christian could look upon this 
hideous block and the immortal men, creatures 
of God, who fell down and worshipped it, with- 
out praying that God would hasten the time 
when Kali should be dragged from her den 
and cast out as an unclean thing, and God, 



* To run out the tongue is the common expression of 
astonishment or surprise among the Hindu women. 
41 



518 WORSHIP OF KALI. 



oven our God, be worshipped by the millions 
now bound in Satan's chains. 

At the season of the Charak-pujah, Kali-ghat 
is a scene of more than ordinary interest. By 
sunrise the multitudes from every quarter of 
the native city pour forth like bees from their 
hives, and uniting in the suburb of Bhowanipur, 
stream towards the temple. The mass, arrayed 
in holiday robes, attend as spectators ; others, 
with garlands of flowers about their necks, or 
with their bodies besmeared with ashes, are 
seen to be devotees. Of these, some carry iron 
rods; others, twisted cords or bamboo-canes; 
while others attend with the clangour of cym- 
bals, tomtoms, and horns, or bear flags, ban- 
ners, and images of the gods. When they reach 
the temple-gate, they cast down their offerings 
and press within the court and to the temple 
itself, to catch a sight of the great goddess and 
utter their praises in her ears. The courtyard 
is now crowded, and the devotees come forward 
to fulfil their vows. Several blacksmiths stand 
ready with sharp instruments. A man advances 
and presents to him his side. It is pierced, and 
the cane or rod which he has brought with him 
is thrust through the cut. Another has his arm 
thus pierced.; another, his tongue slit, and a 



WORSHIP OF KALI. 519 



piece of cord or cane passed through the wound. 
Company after comjmny thus comes forward to 
honour their goddess, till all are attended to by 
the smiths, who cut and pierce with utter care- 
lessness or with merriment. The final sacrifice 
is now at hand. Men, with iron rods passed 
through their sides and meeting in front in 
shovel-like vessels, arrange themselves around 
the elevated portico, and just within the columns. 
Then, to give the description of Dr. Duff, "All 
the rest assemble themselves within this living 
circle. On a sudden, at a signal given, com- 
mence the bleating and the lowing and the 
struggling of animals slaughtered in sacrifice, 
at the'farthest end of the portico, and speedily 
is the ground made to swim with sacrificial 
blood. At the same moment of time the ves- 
sel-carriers throw upon the burning coals in 
their vessels handfuls of Indian pitch, composed 
of various combustible substances. Instantly 
ascends the smoke, the flame, and the sulphur- 
ous smell. Those having the musical instru- 
ments send forth their loud and jarring and 
discordant sounds ; and those who were trans- 
pierced begin to dance in the most frantic 
manner, pulling backwards and forwards 
through their wounded members the rods and 



520 CALCUTTA MISSIONS. 



the canes, the spits and the tubes, the cords 
and the writhing serpents, fill their bodies seem 
streaming with their own blood ! All this is 
carried on simultaneously; and that, too, within 
a briefer period of time than has been occupied ' 
in this feeble and inadequate attempt to de- 
scribe it. Again and again would the loud 
shouts ascend from the thousands of applaud- 
ing spectators — shouts of * Victory to Kali ! 
Victory to the great Kali !' " 

If the heart of the apostle Paul was stirred 
within him when he saw the city of Athens, 
wholly given to idolatry, why may not we have 
our hearts stirred within us at the contempla- 
tion of such scenes, even now enacted in a city 
at whose side our ships continually lie moored, 
and to which access is as open and as free as to 
any spot in our own or any Christian State ? 



Prions in Calorfte, 

Sad as is the darkness which broods over 
Bengal and its metropolis, it is not an unbroken 
darkness. The different English and Scotch 
societies have missionaries stationed in or near 
Calcutta, who are labouring for the spread of 
the gospel among the people. Although the 



CALCUTTA MISSIONS. 521 



success, as to the number of converts, has not 
been so great as in Tinnevelly, there were in 
Bengal, in the year 1852, some thirteen thou- 
sand native Christians, of whom six thousand 
are in the vicinity of Calcutta. 

Serampore, on the Ganges, fifteen miles 
above Calcutta, is famous as the residence of 
the first missionary labourers in Bengal. Here 
the venerated Carey, and his associates Ward 
and Marshman. planted themselves under the 
protection of the Danish flag, preaching, teach- 
ing, translating, printing, and proving that there 
was no danger to the State in the conversion of 
Hindus to Christianity. They have been fol- 
lowed by others, and the truth is now widely 
made known in this great city. The same state 
of things which was alluded to as existing in 
Madras, and leading young men to be very 
anxious to study the English language, exists 
here also, and to a greater degree. English is 
the language of the court and of commerce ; 
and every young man who would make any 
figure in society must understand English. So 
great is the passion for this study, that English 
they will get at any hazard. Hence, almost 
all of the missions have opened schools in which, 
through the medium of the English language, 



MISSIONARY SCHOOLS. 



lads and young men are instructed in the truths 
of Christianity as well as in secular learning, 
with the avowed object of leading them to ac- 
knowledge Christ before men. 

At Bhowanipur, in the school of the London 
Missionary Society, are six hundred youths, 
studying with great interest the Bible and 
the evidences of Christianity. In Cornwallis 
Square is the school of the Scotch Kirk Mis- 
sion, with twelve hundred pupils ; and in the 
school of the Free Church Mission are thirteen 
hundred boys and young men. These, be it 
understood, arc the children of heathen parents, 
and many of them from the highest and most 
influential families of Calcutta. 

Dr. Duff, the distinguished advocate of the 
educational system of missions, commenced his 
labours in 1830 with a class of five scholars, 
which, in three days, increased to one hundred 
and twenty, and, in a few days more, to two 
hundred and fifty. As his work grew, he was 
reinforced from Scotland ; and at the time of 
the disruption of the Scottish Church, had some 
eight hundred pupils in a large and commodious 
edifice on Cornwallis Square. At the disrup- 
tion, all the missionaries left the Established 
Church or Kirk, to throw in their lot with the 



MISSIONARY SCHOOLS. 



Free Church of Scotland. They relinquished 
their buildings and their pupils to the Kirk, 
and going into the heart of the Hindu town, 
hired the house of a native gentleman, and 
began anew. What has been the result? The 
old school is larger than it was ; and at the 
end of ten years the new school has one thou- 
sand three hundred and eighty boys, lads, and 
young men on its roll. Thus, even dissension 
and division are made to advance the cause of 
Christ. 

My visit to -this school was deeply interesting 
tome; and certainly no Christian man could 
look without interest upon such a scene. Guided 
by one of the missionaries connected with the 
institution, after passing for a long distance 
through the narrow and populous streets, with 
their swarming huts and bazaars, we passed 
through the gate of a courtyard leading to a large, 
square, two-storied building. Entering, you find 
it to be an oriental dwelling upon a grand 
scale, consisting of four galleries, each fronting 
upon a large, square paved court, once the resi- 
dence of a Calcutta babu, now a mission school- 
house. The exercises of the day were opened 
with prayer by the missionary, who stood in the 
middle of a Ions; hall so that he miafht be heard 



524 schools. 

by the young men -who were arranged in raws 
on both sides of the speaker. After prayers, 
the janitor struck his bell, and the classes 
formed. 

We first visited the youngest class. It was 
assembled in the open room, facing the court 
which has been before described as the room 
appropriated to idolatrous worship. Here I 
found two hundred and fifty-five bright little 
fellows composing the twenty-first class! This 
is the nursery from which the other classes are 
supplied. From it, I was taken to the next 
highest — that is, the twentieth class — and thence 
to the nineteenth, and the eighteenth, and so 
on to the first' class, asking a few questions to 
see the progress made from grade to grade. 
Here you will suppose it ends ; but no ! this is 
the school department, and above these there 
are five classes higher still in the collegiate de- 
partment, embracing a hundred and thirty 
young men, some of whom have been for ten or 
tYv T elve years under instruction. Of the pupils, 
at least one-fifth are Brahmins, and many of 
them from the most influential and even the 
most bigoted families in Calcutta. Intelligence, 
deep interest in their studies, and admiration 
of their teachers, show unmistakably in their 



faces. Here, as at Bhowanipur, I was struck 
with the fact that the heathenish marks were re- 
moved from almost every forehead, (if not from 
every one,) — a thing which would in Madras he 
held a sign of renunciation of Hinduism ; and, 
in place of the shaved head, with the sacred 
coodamy or queue, there universal, here the 
lads, almost without exception, wore their hair 
all over the head, in the European manner. 
They also, for the most part, wore shoes ; and 
if transported to Madras, would be taken for a 
company of professed Christians. These are 
but straws showing which way the stream flows, 
revealing to the observer familiar with Hindu 
customs the great change which is working its 
way through the apparently impenetrable strata 
of Hindu society. At no very distant day the 
educated men of Bengal will burst the bonds 
of superstition, break through the restraints 
imposed upon them by bigoted priests and 
pundits, and assert their right to free thought, 
free speech, and free action. It becomes the 
church to see to it that, when that day comes, 
Christianity, not infidelity, takes the place of a 
hideous but dead heathenism. 

Already, through the influence of English 
science as taught in the government schools, 



CONVERTS. 



from which religion and the Bible are excluded, 
and by the instructions given by missionaries 
in their educational institutions and in public 
preaching, faith in their old superstitions has' 
ceased in the minds of thousands in Calcutta. 
Thousands and tens of thousands, in appearance 
and profession idolaters, have no shred of re- 
spect for the religion of their ancestors. Policy 
alone prevents their throwing off even the ap- 
pearance of faith in Hinduism. Of these, many 
have rejected their old belief without receiving 
Christianity; others have an intellectual con- 
viction of the truth of Christianity, but fear to 
encounter the trials which attend a profession 
of faith in Christ; others still, (to the praise 
of the power of God be it spoken !) have had 
the courage to face opposition and persecution 
for the sake of confessing Christ before men. 

Of the converts, many have been Brahmins, 
.and others are of high standing in societ}^. 
They have relinquished home, and submitted 
to the loss of hereditary possessions ; have been 
reviled, chained, confined, beaten, and threat- 
ened with death by poison ; have been excom- 
municated and cut off from all social ties by 
their former associates ; and to all this they 
have submitted, rather than violate their con- 



CONVERTS. 527 



victions of truth and duty. Nor do those who 
cling to the old belief look upon these things 
without misgivings. 

The baptism of six young men who had been 
students in the institution of the London Mis- 
sionary Society at Bhowanipur, in the yeafr 
1851, led to a prodigious excitement among the 
Hindus of Calcutta. These converts were 
Brahmins, and one of them the son of a haldar 
or proprietor of the great temple at Kali-ghat — 
a receiver of the offerings of ten days in the 
year. The cry of "Hinduism in danger" was 
raised, and great efforts were made to induce 
the young men to recant. Failing in this, a 
grand council of Hindus, including a hundred 
Bhatta-charjyas, scribes learned in the Shasters 
and law, was assembled to devise means to 
arrest the progress of Christianity. But the 
council failed in all things, except in showing 
to all men that the work of the Lord had so 
sapped the foundations of Hinduism in Calcutta, 
that the most bigoted and benighted idolaters 
tremble lest it fall and leave them as monu- 
ments of a past age and a dead religion. 

Let it not be supposed, however, that India 
is upon the eve of receiving Christianity. It 
is very difficult so to speak of missionary 



528 WORK TO BE DON^W'O 



labours as not to convey the impression that 
almost nothing has been done, or that almost 
every thing has been done ; both impressions 
are false. It may be truly said that much has 
been done in some places, but that more — a 
fthousand times more — remains to be done than 
has been done, or than can be well understood 
by Christians in England or America. In the 
single province of Bengal are districts contain- 
ing seven million five hundred thousand inha- 
bitants, without a missionary ; and in other parts 
of India you may journey through district after 
district, and province after province, with mil- 
lions and millions of inhabitants, and find but 
two or four men, toiling amid the masses of 
heathenism around them, as if attempting to 
empty the ocean by buckets-full, or to tunnel 
the mountains with bodkins. In other places 
you will find no man at all to shed one ray of 
light upon the unbroken darkness of false reli- 
gion. Yet, where labour is put forth, God is 
blessing it, and will bless it more and more 
abundantly, until India, in all its vast extent, 
unites to ascribe blessing and honour and glory 
and power unto Him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and to the Lamb forever. Even so, 
come Lord Jesus, come quickly ! Amen. 



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